Yannick un-dresses for the Oscars

Yannick un-dresses for the Oscars

Orchestras

norman lebrecht

March 12, 2024

A red-carpet shot of the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and Philadelphia Orchestra.

 

Yannick writes:
An unforgettable night at @TheAcademy Awards, standing tall for @maestrofilm and the classical music community, celebrating seven amazing nominations! Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!
Une soirée inoubliable aux @TheAcademy Awards, rempli de fierté pour @maestrofilm et honoré de représenter la communauté de la musique classique. Célébrons sept merveilleuses nominations! Félicitations à tous les gagnants et nommés!
Stylist: @tiffbrisenostylist
Clothing: @ysl
Jewelry: @jasonofbeverlyhills
Watch: @rolex
Grooming: @patricksantaana

Captions, please?

Comments

  • Alviano says:

    Total lack of taste.

  • waw says:

    Was he invited to anything official, or did they sneak in after everything was over, and then found an empty hallway decorated with Oscar logos and then took some selfies? Who’s the photographer, or did they Photoshop themselves onto a stock photo?

    Caption:

    “Agencies issue kill notice for a crime of fashion; the perpetrators are also victims, fashion victims, and are considered armed and tasteless”

    • V.Lind says:

      He was there as part of the Maestro contingent. I didn’t think much of the movie, and, as I predicted, Barbie outdid it in terms of wins, but at least most of its representatives turned up looking respectable and, in the case of Carey Mulligan, stunningly elegant.

      YN-Z’s partner looks reasonably stylish and event-appropriate. He himself looks as if he thought he would be heading for one of the seamier caffs on the Marseille docks, c. 1949.

  • A.L. says:

    Negatively distasteful. Someone needs to tell him that Miami Vice has been out of sight and out of mind for close to half a century.

  • Sebastian says:

    Yannick – unfortunately – has gotten more and more tasteless recently. Such a pity.

    It’s a disappointing turn for someone who was once regarded as having impeccable taste. Perhaps it’s a temporary lapse, but for now, Yannick’s recent selections leave much to be desired.

  • anmarie says:

    LOST TRAINING BRA!
    Garment lost or stolen during Oscars.
    Generous reward if found!

  • Player says:

    Dear oh dear. Funny but also a bit tragic.

  • Anthony Sayer says:

    How utterly awful.

  • Bone says:

    Flamboyant. Emphasis on flam(e)

  • AD says:

    Maybe something went wrong with the washing machine/drier and the shirt (or whatever it is) srhank?

  • msc says:

    Wie schön ist der Dirigent YNS heute Nacht!

  • Wise Guy says:

    He is really becoming an embarrassment. His Wokeification of Philly Orchestra has brought it down in stature as evidenced by its programming and beating of dead horses.

    • Barry says:

      I stopped going to their concerts in large part for that reason. But in his and the Orchestra’s defense, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by their improved lineup of guest conductors this season and next and they have one of their more appealing seasons overall in a long time on tap for ’24-’25 – Mahler 3, 6, 9, Tristan (complete), Bruckner 7, Verdi’s Requiem (with Muti), etc.

      That aside, the outfit is a joke.

    • Cardfael says:

      Agreed. That once great orchestra has become an embarrassment. And that is no fault of the musicians.

  • J Barcelo says:

    What a classless buffoon. His predecessors Stokowski, Ormandy, Muti, Sawallisch all dressed immaculately.

    • Margaret Koscielny says:

      …and, conducted with great depth and finesse. But, you know, we live in a very superficial age of social media and attention-getting behaviors, good and bad. Poor old music.

    • Henry Cohen says:

      But maybe Stokowski, Ormandy, Muti, and Sawallisch weren’t flamboyantly gay. There is nothing wrong with Yannick’s being himself. The only thing that matters is his conducting.

  • Tiredofitall says:

    Please, I’m eating my breakfast.

  • Dorothy says:

    While he was on the red carpet, his opera house remains in the red….

  • John Kelly says:

    “Where’s me shirt?” Honestly, I am big fan of YNS but here he looks like an absolute putz.

  • Cardfael says:

    Stokowski and Ormandy must be turning in their graves.

  • Say her name. Kailee. says:

    Uuuuh Muuuu Guuuud. I go to the Uscars, look like trash can gay fabuuulosooooo! Music what?

  • Eye roll says:

    He’s an effective musician/communicator and obviously it’s great to have classical musicians implicated outside of the musical sphere. That said, he looks ridiculous and clearly he doesn’t realize (whether he is this way or not) that it comes across as extremely self-absorbed.

  • Gerard says:

    So sleazy and tasteless lately. He is 49…apparently he is going through a midlifecrisis. Addicted to attention. Feels himself to be the next Bernstein (which he is not). Is he trying to make some kind of statement? This polishing of his fingernails is just too much brrrr….

    • Tiredofitall says:

      It’s only a matter of time before the cosmetic surgery begins.

      • Sue Sonata Form says:

        Sorry, but it’s already such an American thing to do.

        A relative law student once said he’d learned a lot from “LA Law” about the profession and I retorted that I would have thought he’d have learned more about plastic surgery than legal processes!!

        • Tiredofitall says:

          You can blame the US for many things, but South Korea, Argentina, Brazil, Columbia and Greece out pace the US for per capital cosmetic surgery procedures.

      • Brian says:

        Look closer.

  • She says:

    Next time my gay friends criticize my outfit, I will remind them that you can be gay AND have bad taste

  • Mahler Fan NYC says:

    I’m rooting for Yannick! He is a fine musician who works very hard, gives a lot, and (evidently) plays hard. Glad to see he’s having fun. He’s earned it!

    • Antwerp Smerle says:

      “He is a fine musician…”

      I agree. I’ve been going to concerts, mostly in London, for over 50 years. Yannick’s Mahler 5 with the Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall recently was right up there with VPO/Bernstein and LPO/Tennstedt.

  • Myfanwy says:

    I LOVE IT! You do you Yannick. These pearl clutchers have no imagination. ❤️

  • PaulD says:

    He should have put on a gold chain and told people he was auditioning for the remake of Saturday Night Fever.

  • Tiredofitall says:

    Has Yannick ever given preferred pronouns? Just want to be correct.

  • Barry says:

    Gag.

  • franklin cohen says:

    Could a sex change be next? Or at least a boob job.

  • Orchestra Pit Troll says:

    Barbie pink is less tacky.

  • Phillip says:

    “…standing tall for @maestrofilm and the classical music community…” is not accomplished when you appear too plastic to be mistaken as the Music Director for BARBIE.

  • Fernandel says:

    Don’t make me laugh, I have chapped lips !

  • Anthony Sayer says:

    His partner looks a lot like him. I encountered this occasionally when studying in London and subbing for a colleague playing cocktail piano (‘live music’ was the cheapest way in those days for restaurant/bar owners to get around licensing laws and continue serving alcohol for another ninety minutes). One of these venues was a gay bar in St. Martin’s Lane, Brief Encounter. The clientele was very friendly and one couple stuck out in my mind: looking as similar as Yannick and his other half, they asked me to play ‘Happy Birthday’, so I duly obliged. ‘It’s our birthday!’ one of them declared, as they hugged. They actually had the same birthday, all the while looking like semi-unidentical twins.

    Having said that, his outfit really is embarrassing. Or is the MD of the Met and the Philly required in these ‘progressive’ days, to dress like a public lavatory gigolo?

  • Tony says:

    Look at all the pearl clutching….

    Have any of you Neanderthals ever thought that he might just be enjoying how easily he lives in your head??

    Slay, Yannick. Slay!!

  • Don Ciccio says:

    Dresses?

  • Jobim75 says:

    Can you have a personal very bad taste and be a musician with good taste?…

  • Sue Sonata Form says:

    Who’s the gorgeous dude in the elegant black suit?

  • Ludwig's Van says:

    Channeling his inner Yuja?

  • Beatitude says:

    I’ll respect one’s own fashion sense, but geez, it’s a ridiculous looking garment clearly intended to hide his abs and stomach. It would have looked so much better – even elegant – if he had tossed that awful thing and simply buttoned the jacket above his waist. Just saying…

  • IP says:

    Wow. I have seen so many pictures of the Oscars but this is the only media to feature this.

  • Ich bin Ereignis says:

    He’s young, talented, good-looking, successful and deserves to enjoy his moment. I can’t think of a better occasion for a little bit of extravagance than the Oscars. While I personally wouldn’t wear it (and definitely couldn’t, that I am confident about), I think he can pull it off. Why not? It’s not hurting anybody. I think part of the reactions are due to the cognitive dissonance between what we expect a conductor should look like and behave vs. the possibility that one can both be sexy and understand composers such as Bruckner or Mahler. Good for him.

  • Music fan says:

    These are the accoutrements of a man in the grip of a mid-life crisis. His poor partner.

    Nice pecs, though. I’ll admit to that.

  • Save the MET says:

    A David del Tredici lite appearance. David would have worn leather with a cape and brought his partner in on a leash.

  • Ben says:

    I look forward to seeing YNS to dress like Yuja on her wild days.

    😉

    (I just want to see that day to come someday; I don’t want to see that in person)

  • Elizabeth Donaldson says:

    Zero judgment and expected poor taste from the guy who is on record as asserting that Florence Price should, as a composer, have been acknowledged as being as great as Beethoven.

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