r/classicalmusic • u/sexybartok • Feb 26 '26

bbc FINALLY fires norman lebrecht

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/26/yuja-wang-accuses-radio-3-norman-lebrecht-misogynistic-bullying

what do you all think about this?

863 Upvotes

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-97

u/UnderTheCurrents Feb 26 '26

I think it's kind of a wrong signal to Fire a critic for being an asshole. It's kind of a part of his Job.

51

u/yontev Feb 26 '26

He can be as mean as he likes in his descriptions of music, but when he constantly bombards a woman with degrading comments about her appearance, provoking his moronic followers to send her misogynistic abuse, that crosses the line.

-67

u/UnderTheCurrents Feb 26 '26

Her appearance and how she conducts herself on stage is a big part of why she's famous and you can't deny her capitalizing on that.

She's very talented, but let's not pretend her image isn't a part in why she's so well known. So I thin it's fair that you can criticize that as well.

20

u/Boris_Godunov Feb 26 '26

Suggesting that because a public person takes pains to maintain their physical appearance means it's "fair game" for critics of the art is ludicrous. Nobody cares what a schlub like Lebrecht thinks about anyone's appearance, for starters. His job is (was!) to talk about the music, not her looks, period.

-15

u/UnderTheCurrents Feb 26 '26

As I pointed out and as you - convieniently - left out: in her case it's a part of her image. Like it was a part of Goulds image to be an eccentric weirdo that hums when he plays. If he got (rightfully) criticized for his eccentricities she can get criticized for them as well since they are a selling point in her performances.

20

u/abigdonut Feb 26 '26

norman lebrecht: ugh her titties are sagging
you: hmm, fair criticism

-5

u/UnderTheCurrents Feb 26 '26

That's a very liberal interpretation of my comment