Yowza...The future of classical music

[Jazz+]

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/NV3TfpY1hRo

[linwood]

I need to make some promo vids. Maybe in some fireman garb or something...

[David Loving]

Nice posture, good technique, fine pedaling. I'm a fan!

[Marzzz]

Oh, that isn't Yuja Wang?

[timwat]

There is a bevy of very attractive, provocatively dressed young women playing classical piano on youtube vids these days. Three names that come to mind are Lola Astanova (above), Anastasia Huppmann and Khatia Buniatishvili (for me I enjoy Buniatishvili's playing most of the 3).

 

Each seem to have genuine training and street cred (if that's the appropriate term in the classical world), and yet I've yet to hear anything that moves me like, say Martha Argerich or Helene Grimaud.

 

I'm not a classical expert by any means. I just know what I like. Yes, a straight guy enjoys a pretty face, a swelling bustline and a tight short dress. Yay marketing.

 

But when I want to listen to classical piano the short dress and cleavage doesn't matter.

 

So I'm curious your opinions between, say, these two?:

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_asI5WvGVQs&t=1941s

[Threadslayer]

 

But when I want to listen to classical piano the short dress and cleavage doesn't matter.

 

So I'm curious your opinions between, say, these two?:

 

Wow. That's a tough one. I guess I'll have to go with the cleavage. As much out of habit as anything.

[Markay]

Fitting tribute to a Pole in Paris. Someone has even put up a Chopin with Cherries Paris blog.

[timwat]

 

But when I want to listen to classical piano the short dress and cleavage doesn't matter.

 

So I'm curious your opinions between, say, these two?:

 

Wow. That's a tough one. I guess I'll have to go with the cleavage. As much out of habit as anything.

 

LOL

[Bobby Simons]

Oh, that isn't Yuja Wang?

 

Only in her dreams. Yuja is phenomenal.

[EVC]

No doubt she is beautiful but the posture shows a lot of affectation. Does she really play like that?

[GRollins]

Watch the video.

 

a) She does.

--or--

b) She doesn't

 

That was easy.

 

Grey

[GRollins]

So I'm curious your opinions between, say, these two?

 

Gina Bachauer

 

Grey

[Jazz+]

I would give her an A+ for overall presentation. She sets a new high bar in visual stage presence, one that is etched in my brain for life. I will compare all future pianists to this.

[Jazz+]

God, I wish I had her for my piano teacher back in junior high and in high school instead of old Miss Frumplekurt. I wouldve practiced at least twice as hard.

[MojoGuyPan]

Lola is on the fast track to becoming the next Mrs. GuyPan.

 

When she PM'd me this video I just about went to Jared's.

 

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/TLuyPnyOL4E

 

 

My attorney's drafting the prenup as I post.

[Doerfler]

When she PM'd me this video I just about went to Jared's.

 

I dunno, those white Daisy Duke's are so 1979. YMMV

[Mark Schmieder]

Everyone has their own posture and technique, but I'm not sure it's such a good idea to be moving so much while playing. I suspect that could hinder growth beyond a certain point. This is in reference to the initial post.

 

The Rachmaninov is my favourite piece of music ever written, and neither performance (I only listened to the first five minutes of each) would be at the top of my list, but I found the second pianist to be more thoughtful and passionate in her interpretation. I couldn't connect with the first one. I scrolled up so as to not be distracted by visuals, but watched a bit for cues to the emotional connection with the music, and my preferences held up.

 

BTW, the requirement that young and upcoming classical performers be perceived as sexy applies to men as well, whether to appeal to women or to gay men (or both). Simple marketing, but it reminds me of the cheesy hippy era when labels that hadn't previously offered classical catalogues began adding new lines to attract the open-minded to explore this genre. Warner had a Wagner album with a naked lady whose nipples were slightly covered by VW hubcaps. And another label had "Beethoven's Head", "Mozart's Head", etc. This shameless marketing approach is nothing new.

[DanL]

God, I wish I had her for my piano teacher back in junior high and in high school instead of old Miss Frumplekurt. I wouldve practiced at least twice as hard!

 

LOL! I had a pretty hot teacher in her early 20's when I was 14 after my other teacher quit teaching to write music for a TV show. I didn't get much done in my lesson, I was too involved in trying to look down her shirt! But I did practice hard and looked forward to my lesson each week!

[Bill W]

I'm sorry, was there a piano in that video?

[Al Quinn]

...neither performance (I only listened to the first five minutes of each) would be at the top of my list, but I found the second pianist to be more thoughtful and passionate in her interpretation. I couldn't connect with the first one.

+1

 

I had the same reaction

[MAJUSCULE]

And y'all wonder why this forum is sometimes referred to as a locker-room/old boys club...

[Paughrock]

Sorry dude, no locker room talk going on here. It's one thing if a woman shows up to work and does not want to be cat-called, etc., of which she has every right to be free of such commentary. However, this woman clearly is using her looks to deliberately attract a male, heterosexual audience, and has set up her image to encourage commentary on the way she looks. What's mysoginistic is controlling a woman's right to attract such attention, if that is her choice. Sorry if this veers OT, but I'm just making sure you're not trying to turn this into something else...peace.

[WheelHead]

I'm sorry, was there a piano in that video?

 

I'm sure if Franz Liszt were alive today he would be quite pleased, so to speak.

 

Liszt:

 

"Women worshipped his image and attempted to forcibly procure cuttings of his clothing or his dreamy shoulder-length hair. Broken piano strings could be made into bracelets. Some stored his cigar butts in their cleavage or emptied his tea dregs into their scent bottles (Source: Alan Walkers Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years, 1811-1847). When Ernst Burger writes that many women literally threw themselves at him, he means that women literally threw themselves. "

 

WH

[MAJUSCULE]

Sorry dude, no locker room talk going on here. It's one thing if a woman shows up to work and does not want to be cat-called, etc., of which she has every right to be free of such commentary. However, this woman clearly is using her looks to deliberately attract a male, heterosexual audience, and has set up her image to encourage commentary on the way she looks. What's mysoginistic is controlling a woman's right to attract such attention, if that is her choice. Sorry if this veers OT, but I'm just making sure you're not trying to turn this into something else...peace.

 

I'll give you that she's most likely chosen to use sex appeal and applaud her right to that choice. I'll also acknowledge that it's probably unfair to her that her use of sex appeal elicits different reactions than Rihanna/Katy Perry/etc simply due to her genre and instrument.

 

But does it take away from the cringiness of many of the comments here? Nah.

[Joe Muscara]

But does it take away from the cringiness of many of the comments here? Nah.

Thanks for this. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

 

That being said, I've seen threads go much worse than this one.

[Paughrock]

But does it take away from the cringiness of many of the comments here? Nah.

Thanks for this. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

 

That being said, I've seen threads go much worse than this one.

 

I guess we all have a different opinion. For me, what I find cringe-worthy is a culture that is afraid of sexuality. This woman is clearly stunning, and has chosen to deliberately make her beauty the subject of a very public platform. Her intended audience is heterosexual men. There is nothing wrong with a group of men talking about their shared common feelings about how this woman looks. Perhaps if the video was of a man in jockeys showing off his masculine features, and the discussion was about the size of his package, etc., I may concur that some heterosexual men may feel uncomfortable discussing, but certainly any gay men (or heterosexual women) who wanted to share their common feelings with each other would be within their rights to do so. A society that is afraid of talking about sex is...well that is what I find cringeworthy. I thought there was a sexual revolution that started in the 60s to throw off these Victorian prudish norms, but clearly I am wrong on that one...

[MojoGuyPan]

I didn't see anything cringeworthy in this thread. You've got hot Russian piano chicks playing in hot pants showing acres of skin and all dolled up with Estee Lauder.

 

Lola and her brethren are looking for this attention otherwise she'd just play dressed like a widowed librarian.

 

As far as their musicianship they seem good to me. I'd rather have a backstage VIP pass to an Astanova concert than front row seats to Lang Lang.

 

I realize Lola's not playing Jump or the bass line for Thriller but I'd say she can legitimately play.

[GRollins]

But does it take away from the cringiness of many of the comments here? Nah.

Thanks for this. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

 

That being said, I've seen threads go much worse than this one.

 

I guess we all have a different opinion. For me, what I find cringe-worthy is a culture that is afraid of sexuality. This woman is clearly stunning, and has chosen to deliberately make her beauty the subject of a very public platform. Her intended audience is heterosexual men. There is nothing wrong with a group of men sharing or talking about their shared common feelings about how this woman looks. Perhaps if the video was of a gay man showing off his masculine features, and the discussion was about the size of his package, etc., I may concur that some heterosexual men may feel uncomfortable discussing, but certainly any gay men who wanted to share their common feelings with each other would be within their rights to do so. A society that is afraid of talking about sex is...well that is what I find cringeworthy. I thought there was a sexual revolution that started in the 60s to throw off these Victorian prudish norms, but clearly I am wrong on that one...

 

Yep.

 

Grey

[Desert Rat]

Lola and her brethren are looking for this attention otherwise she'd just play dressed like a widowed librarian.

 

I would think it might be her "sistren".

 

[MAJUSCULE]

But does it take away from the cringiness of many of the comments here? Nah.

Thanks for this. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

 

That being said, I've seen threads go much worse than this one.

 

I guess we all have a different opinion. For me, what I find cringe-worthy is a culture that is afraid of sexuality. This woman is clearly stunning, and has chosen to deliberately make her beauty the subject of a very public platform. Her intended audience is heterosexual men. There is nothing wrong with a group of men talking about their shared common feelings about how this woman looks. Perhaps if the video was of a man in jockeys showing off his masculine features, and the discussion was about the size of his package, etc., I may concur that some heterosexual men may feel uncomfortable discussing, but certainly any gay men (or heterosexual women) who wanted to share their common feelings with each other would be within their rights to do so. A society that is afraid of talking about sex is...well that is what I find cringeworthy. I thought there was a sexual revolution that started in the 60s to throw off these Victorian prudish norms, but clearly I am wrong on that one...

 

Not at all afraid of sex or sexuality Part of a generation with its own thought revolutions, including on beauty standards, gender norms, and objectification. We're beyond the surface now, we're tackling the roots of the issues. I've said my bit, y'all feel free to PM if you want to continue a more meaningful dialogue.