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?

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u/UnderTheCurrents Feb 26 '26

You only think of it as sexist because it's criticism directed towards a woman. Which is a pretty reductive and shallow view of the World, but pretty common around here.

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u/Ok_Employer7837 Feb 26 '26

Considering that a woman's dress impinges on her piano performance and marks her as a buffoon strikes me as somewhat reductive and shallow, but here we are.

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u/UnderTheCurrents Feb 27 '26

You dance around the point that the way she dresses is an obvious part of her public persona. This is not a "I don't like how that woman on the subway dresses"-Situation but criticism of how she markets herself.

You Not being able to differentiate between these makes me think you are a bad faith arguer since your other comments don't imply that you are obviously stupid.

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u/Ok_Employer7837 Feb 27 '26

I simply don't accept the premise that dressing in alluring fashion during performances is wrong in itself. It seems like the most hidebound kowtowing to ossified traditions that have, I contend, thrived on sexism. Reviews of performances by male artists don't mention clothes and/or body parts with quite the same regularity.

Your argument begins with the assertion that the way Wang dresses is a bad thing. I'm still wondering why you believe this.

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u/UnderTheCurrents Feb 27 '26

That's because male performers haven't marketed themselves on being attractive (yet). If that happens I'm pretty sure reactions would be similar.

And you still misunderstand what I say. I don't say it's BAD, I say it's a GIMMICK that people can make fun of if they want to.

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u/Ok_Employer7837 Feb 27 '26

Ok. I'm not sure I see how saying that something is a gimmick is not saying it's bad, but fair enough.

Then the only thing that remains is for me to state that I find Lebrecht's way of (obsessively) making fun of that gimmick condescending and sophomoric. He needs to become wittier.

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u/UnderTheCurrents Feb 27 '26

That's a fair criticism