These are the worst covers of the year. The top one sold almost twice as many copies last week – just under 2,000 – as any other classical album on the market. That includes humming nuns and Angels Sing Christmas in Ireland.
Short skirt works wonders. Old proverb.
The following notice has gone up in Symphony…
The orchestra is bidding farewell to Alessandro Cappone,…
press release: CHICAGO – Riccardo Muti leads the…
The cornerstone Anglican church is offloading its choir…
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Sex sells. At least some people will presumably also listen to the album and become familiar with the basic outlines of the music. This is the Miley Cirus moment, right? Gotta do something…or so they say.
I know Yuja Wang isn’t to everyone’s taste, but I’d much rather the best selling classical recording of the month was a proper recording of a complete work (or in this case, two complete works) rather than another compilation of ‘smooth classics’, the humming nuns you mention, or a another recording of pop tunes and arias by a self-proclaimed ‘opera’ star, who has never appeared in an opera.
If you look at it as complete recording of Prokofiev Piano Concerto outsells singing nuns, it’s really a good news story.
Well said that man!
And if one has attended one (or in my case two) of Wang’s Prokofiev concerto performances, than one knows why some people might want to buy that skirt, ah I mean a recording of one of those concertos.
If I wasn’t classical music lover I would buy the album and fall in love with both the music and Ms. Wang. The heading of this article should read “The BEST music cover of 2013”.
At age 82 I know.
hmm I don’t know if I would.
At 87 I know.
Quote: If you look at it as complete recording of Prokofiev Piano Concerto outsells singing nuns, it’s really a good news story.
Even more so if she’s half naked on the cover.
Nice to see the Glans on the thread, too.
If Wang lacked talent I would agree that using sex appeal to sell art often produces a lowest-common denominator. She is an excellent pianist and wants a performance career in music. In modern culture, as in all previous ones, the men with the money control the media delivery systems. Men also have expected, confining roles to play on the way to the top. Sadly, it is called the Music Business for a reason. Right now, pop-porn and thug-life are the stylistic rage (I am not a fan of either) so if classical music, opera and ballet wish to have a future, evolve or die seems to be the situation. ART FOR ART’S SAKE is dead, or in hibernation and has been since the 1980’s in Western culture.
You may not have noticed but she isn’t wearing a short skirt on the album cover!
I guess you meant to answer to my comment. I was referring the skirt she wore on stage 🙂
I find Mrs Wang an exceptionally gifted pianist, and often far more enjoyable than some highly worshipped figures ,who excel in looking deep and meaningful whilst only producing middle of the road fare. And yes,she reminds me a lot of the young Argerich,same volcanic technique and limitless abilities. The Mini skirt doesn’t bother me,why would that be an issue ? Here is a truly breathtaking example of her bravura , a combination of Horowitz and Argerich : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX_xgNGc25s
I very much agree with Michael here. Actually, I sometimes wonder if she really enjoys wearing the dresses and shoes people tend to notice first before they notice that she is, indeed, a tremendously gifted artist? Or is this a gimmick thought up by one of her managers?
“…some highly worshipped figures ,who excel in looking deep and meaningful whilst only producing middle of the road fare…”
Hopefully Ms. Wang won’t take in any exotic pets for the next several years or so! 😉
I’d be a hypocrite if I claimed I didn’t find Yuja Wang very juicy indeed!
Yuja Wang’s cover is completely mainstream. What’s so bad about it? Somebody doesn’t like her… Did she deny an interview or something?
Its ugliness is what’s so bad about and it looks that way to me precisely because I do like her – particularly as a pianist since that is how I know her mostly – very much.
I’m female and immune to Ms. Wang’s appearance. But when I heard her play the Prokofiev Second, I wished it would never end.
Sure it looks like a 12 year old designed it in Photoshop, but so look 90% of today’s classical covers. There is so much worse out there.
Yuja seems to enjoying her role as walking stereotype. In a recent interview in the LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-conversation-yuja-wang,0,3852129.story#axzz2o2vxzxak) she said, “I’m a girl, I love shoes and cute dresses.” I’m not sure, as a female, whether I find that kind of simplistic, reductive thinking or her equally straight-ahead and unimaginative performances more offensive.
No- I disagree. Muzak literally piped into my beloved coffee shop (Peet’s, Mountain View, CA) a pan pipe rendition of Silent Night. It was horrendous.