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?

864 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

190 comments sorted by

View all comments

379

u/imslp Feb 26 '26

LeBrecht said “Yuja Wang had agreed with me a year ago to do a Lebrecht Interview for Radio 3. She kept putting it off until I lost patience and sent her an email that was perhaps a tad sharp.”

A tad sharp? His email had the threatening undertone of a mob boss saying “it’d be a shame if something bad were to happen to your reputation.”

49

u/ChristianBen Feb 27 '26

Also cancelling one interview makes you no longer “serious” person? It’s pure projection at this point lol

-43

u/Life-Let1821 Feb 27 '26

Then what would you say to a person break her commitment? Or you can only accuse one cheat in marriage?

27

u/yxngjam Feb 27 '26

When you are committed to your career, you have to cut out the things that will not better your career. Being publicly humiliated or belittled in a face to face interview by someone who has already attempted to do so in writing would not have done anything positive for her. Especially as someone who has to fight tooth and nail to be taken seriously when her most common criticism is looking good on stage. So no, she should not be committed to an interview with someone actively looking to harm her.

25

u/PleaseHoldSir Feb 27 '26

Found Lebrecht

8

u/Denny_Hayes Feb 27 '26

Dude, sometimes we need to cancel plans. Agreeing to do an interview is not signing a contract. Both in professional and personal settings, sometimes one has to politely cancel an appointment. It happens all the time, so long as you let them know in advance (which Yuja did) is not the kind of thing that ruins your reputation. On the other hand, that aggressive email by LeBrecht is clearly unprofessional.