The moment the audience catches sight of the
performer, the performance has begun.1
And so it was on a balmy summer’s evening last month, that classical pianist Yuja Wang stepped out from under the proscenium at the Hollywood Bowl and set tongues a’waggin’.
LAT music critic Mark Swed’s initial review of the concert devoted a robust amount of font real estate to Ms Wang’s attire, which stirred up a real and virtual frisson with his piece de resistance -
[Wang’s] dress Tuesday was so short and tight that had there been any less of it, the Bowl might have been forced to restrict admission to any music lover under 18 not accompanied by an adult. Had her heels been any higher, walking, to say nothing of her sensitive pedaling, would have been unfeasible.
Swed’s review unleashed a torrent of buzz and spirited debate with the word “appropriate” being tossed around like it was going out of fashion!
Adam Tschorn (LA Times) paints a vivid image of Wang’s outfit – “orange, thigh-grazing, body-hugging dress atop sparkly gold strappy stiletto sandals” resulting in “neck craning, tongues wagging and flashbulbs popping”. Fellow LAT reporter, Mark Swed had also illustrated the audience response of “gasps, wolf whistles and popping flashes”
Swed’s initial article created such controversy because he had the audacity to discuss the Wang’s cutting edge attire which raised an increased awareness of the artist and has catalysed and catapulted debate about the role of fashion in the arts.
Wang’s little orange dress caused a colossal collision between the staid and moribund fashion of classical world of music and that which is au courant.
In Swed’s following article of August 20, 2011 he defends his original, contentious article and goes on to further place his opinion in a wider context.
He explains or perhaps defends that the “big deal” “was the surprise”. The surprise of the evolutionary arc of her fashion style….because, you see, in the past Wang had worn gowns, as all female soloists have.....and now she was wearing “a little orange dress”…. A dress “short, tight and stylish”. Ooh la la!!
However by the end of his article, he is able to concede, “In the end, Wang managed to make her dress serve the music”. Hallelujah
Grammy nominated musician Cameron Carpenter known for ostentatious dress defends the artist’s attire as a performer’s “sovereign rights”. "What people are missing here is that Yuja might want to be seen to be making, as many of us do, a personal statement without having played a note," Carpenter said. "After all, they see you before they hear you."
An LA Phil representative, when discussing the dress code for soloists states “for women that’s traditionally an evening gown”. In Tshorn’s article, Mary Davis who is chairwoman of the Dept of Music at Case Western Reverse University sums it up when she writes about Wang’s dress challenging “the aesthetic of the classical performance.”
An interesting point is raised when Swed states “For some reason, bringing the real world into the classical music realm has seemed somehow inappropriate”. Gerald Klickstein a University of North
Carolina School for the Arts faculty member and author of "The Musician's Way: A Guide to Practice, Performance, and Wellness," a textbook that advises undergraduate music students on all aspects of a
music career — including proper attire states that “classical music culture is loaded with conformity and obedience, and that’s one reason we might see some of this resistance” He also puts forward the point that with regard to financial support of major orchestras, “there’s a big challenge in dealing with the major donors with the most conservative tastes and trying to please them while trying to do the kind of innovative work that would draw a younger audience”
Wang is an accomplished pianist. There is no rulebook erecting impenetrable boundaries that dictate and control all facets of her persona as an artist. She is free and clear to express herself on any level, in any way. Her creativity is not exclusively enslaved to the piano and the classical musical realm.
Amanda Ameers article that appeared in the Arts Journal appears trite, naive and unsophisticated. She appears overly concerned about the disparity of dress between the soloist and the orchestra and asks “is it fair to the LA Phil, or to conductor Lionel Bringuier that so many column inches” were devoted to Wang’s dress. I think that she is missing the point here. Wang is the artist that is making that particular event unique. The audience has purchased tickets and put their bums on seats to see and hear Wang. The next night could be the same orchestra, same conductor and different artist – a totally different and distinctive experience. The soloists are not interchangeable. They are the stars. Their talent and energy infuse and ignite the orchestra, conductor and the audience. Ms Ameers could argue that Mick Jagger or Bono shouldn’t be the front men, rock gods of their respective bands; these musicians should exist on an egalitarian stage and recede from the foreground and blend in, become bland and not be innovative and individual. Since time immemorial, societies have consisted of leaders and masses of followers. Leaders and innovators exist in a rarefied stratosphere and they drive social change.
I also have to vociferously disagree with her regarding the aesthetics of sound design. I have spent the last twenty-five years working in sound postproduction and this again is another one-dimensional statement – “the best sound design is that which you don’t notice”. Is that the same as saying the best
dress in Oscar de la Renta’s new season’s collection is the one you don’t notice?? This is absolutely absurd and preposterous.
It is interesting that Ameers write for the Arts Journal. I think it would be reasonable for one to assume that she has somewhat an understanding of artists and their whimsical and magical realm, to have an awareness and appreciation of their creative expression. Why is it that Ms Wang should only express her creativity thought her fingers? Who wrote this rigid, rabid rulebook that she is referencing???
This article appears tinged with a tone of derision, wondering if Wang’s outfit was “a calculated, attention-getting manouevre.” Could it just be that a brilliant, fearless 24-year world acclaimed classical pianist is performing on every level in the twenty first century? Has Ms Ameers ever seen Elton John, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Cher. Or in the secret fundamentalist fashion rulebook of the classical music world, does it say that such flamboyance, exhibitionism and individualism is only acceptable in the world of modern music. Are their invisible lines in the sand?
Ameers concludes her article with a flippant remark that Wang is welcome to wear what she wants “as long as she accepts that it will be all people want to talk about”. Oh dear, with female friends like this in the arts world, who needs enemies??
In Tshcorn’s article Klickstein said, “Wang's wardrobe was a wholly authentic reflection of artist, set and setting. "She is a magnificent pianist … She's playing in L.A., she's 24, she's a soloist, and there's a lot of
excitement in her playing that's being conveyed through her attire. I think it's terrific that she's expressing herself from the stage, and taking full advantage of the visual aspects of a live performance."
Anne Midgette’s article for the Washington Post is the most rational and intelligent. She really explores the conundrum of Wang’s orange dress throwing a spanner in the works. Traditionally, a classical performer’s attire pretty much fly under the radar. Of course it is particularly interesting because Midgette raises the question of sexism. She cites a review in the late 1960’s that preposterously criticized the glinting zipper on the back of Eve Queler’s evening gown when she was conducting
It’s a fine line for a critc to devote considerable space to dress. It’s a new world and Wang is a trailblazer, a trendsetter…..isn’t really avant garde, yet in the conservative world of classic fashion her dress sense has raised many questions as well as eyebrows.
Wang is a brilliant virtuoso who is able to confidently express her creative talents across various sensory modalities.
Challenging any conventional paradigm makes people uncomfortable and uncertain. It challenges their comfort zone,raises questions and allows choices. For the majority, it is easier to be knee-jerk conservative and alarmed, confronted and defensive than to intellectually evaluate the merits of something new and reject or embrace it.
The chatter created by Wang’s dress has elicited an incredible amount of attention, both positive and negative to her as an artist. Her breaking from convention is exposing a younger generation to classical music, a generation that were alienated by the formidable and traditional ivory tower of classical music.
It is wonderful that an orange piece of fabric has created such controversy. Anything that challenges social convention, the status quo, encourages, inspires and incites passionate debate and possibly and probably change. What is perhaps now perceived as cutting edge will one day invisibly become de rigueur for performers in the classical arena with no one batting a beautifully painted eyelid.
Until of course, something else comes along and upsets the apple cart all over again!!
And the final say goes to Ms Wang, who, tweeted two days after Swed’s article:
- Gerald Klickstein, a University of North Carolina Schooll of the Arts faculty member and author of “The Musicians’s Way: A guide to Practice, Performance and Wellness
REFERENCES
Critic's Notebook: Yuja Wang, dressed to kill, Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times Music Critic
Classical gasp: Yuja Wang's dress at the Bowl causes a crescendo, Adam Tschorn, Los Angeles Times
On the (lack of) classical style, Anne Midgette, www. washingtonpost.com
