Entertainment & Arts

Lessons from Liberace: Concert dress

Like Liberace, Carpenter takes style and entertainment seriously. But he also takes the organ seriously. Here, he takes a bow during an organ concert at the First Congregational Church in Los Angeles.

Like Liberace, Carpenter takes style and entertainment seriously. But he also takes the organ seriously. Here, he takes a bow during an organ concert at the First Congregational Church in Los Angeles.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

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Classical music, like much else in show business, happens to have entered into a new era of bling. Did some of them take notes on Liberace’s on-stage lavishness?

Cameron Carpenter

With his new Mohawk haircut and intense playing, Carpenter was soloist in Copland’s “Organ” Symphony with the L.A. Phil in April 2013.   (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Yuja Wang

Chinese pianist Yuja Wang caused commotion at the Hollywood Bowl in 2011 when she wore a little orange dress as soloist in Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Yuja Wang

Wang has gotten flashier and less mechanical at the keyboard as she has grown increasingly comfortable sashaying on stage in sexy gowns.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Amadeus Leopold

Some say violinist Leopold has gone too far in letting ostentatious fashion gaudily color his musicianship.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Amadeus Leopold

Leopold, formerly Hahn-Bin, in the West Coast premiere of his new show “‘Til Dawn Sunday” at UCLA’s Royce Hall.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

'Marriage of Figaro'

Azzadine Alaia designed the striking costumes for L.A. Phil’s production of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pictured: Rachel Frenkel as Cherubino.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Hilary Hahn

The sober violinist Hilary Hahn showed up in May 2013 for a Walt Disney Concert Hall recital in a gown with practically a bikini top.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Kronos Quartet

The Kronos Quartet has been annually changing its look for 40 years and has remained a vital ensemble.
Pictured: The Kronos Quartet at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in 1997.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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