A critic who gets it

In today's preview of an article coming out in the Washington Post's Sunday Arts section, WaPo classical critic Anne Midgette is quoted reflecting on the disapproval aimed at pianist Yuja Wang, after Wang appeared this summer at the Hollywood Bowl in a skimpy, provocative outfit:

"The fact that showing skin still occasions comment in the classical music world — and some commenters on “Life’s a Pitch” [an arts blog] have piled onto Wang with a sanctimoniousness I find downright offensive — is a mark to me of how far classical music remains isolated from what’s going on in the rest of society. We say we want younger audiences, and we wring our hands over classical music’s possible demise; and yet when a young classical music star does something that would be completely normal in any other entertainment field, we pounce on it as being extreme, attention-getting, questionable."

No further comment from me necessary.