Quote of the Day (Yuja Wang, on Music Criticism)

“Music criticism should be to musicians what ornithology is to birds.”—Tweet by classical pianist Yuja Wang, quoted in Vivien Schweitzer, “Talented, Eye-Catching, Unapologetic,” The New York Times, April 8, 2012

Somewhat like David Helfgott, the pianist whose life was chronicled in the 1996 film Shine, 25-year-old Chinese pianist Yuja Wang has become famous as much for non-musical reasons as for technical skill. In Mr. Helfgott’s case, the question became whether his technique would have brought him attention if he had never been afflicted with mental illness; in Ms. Wang’s, controversy has swirled around her attire. (In fact, as you begin to type her name into Google, one of the first choices seen is, “Yuja Wang dress.”)

Look, there’s a simple test for this: Play a piece performed by Ms. Wang with your eyes closed. Don’t look at her photo on one of her CDs (if you can even find one these days). Or promptly close your eyes as soon as this YouTube performance of her playing Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 begins. Did you enjoy it? Okay, then.

In the meantime, it’s nice to see classical music getting any kind of notice these days, isn’t it? Maybe some of the people eyeing Ms. Wang’s miniskirts might look instead at the program notes for her performances—and actually learn something. Just listen to the music, okay?