Hi! I don´t know it there has been any similar topic before, but I would like to know, what do you think about it? Do you think nice, pretty girl with worse piano skills will have more succes than ,ugly,? My friend who studies piano at university told me, that one of her teachers prefers prettier girls! (And he is one of the most accomplished pianist in our country!) She is really pretty and all her classmates I know are too! There isn´t any fat pianist on whole school, she told me it, because she suffers from anorexia...
I know the audience doesn´t matter how pianist looks, but I wanted to study piano at university and now I have to think if I am pretty and thin enough :-(

And I´m sorry for this silly topic, but it makes me angry, so I would like to know your opinions...

i would not listen to the appearance opinions of an anorexic. I would think (by far) that the better pianist would do better.

perhaps I am wrong.

In the ideal world, it would not matter what the pianist looked like. But piano performance is a visual art as well as an aural one, and I've seen enough remarks even on this forum about the appearance of female pianists to know that it does matter. Society is also still more tolerant of ugly but talented men than women, I'm sorry to say.

That said, in no way make it a limiting factor to your decision to continue piano. I don't believe that you have to be ravishing and stick thin to have a successful performance career. It's not like the acting/modeling world (and hopefully won't progress towards that direction). And hey, look at Susan Boyle!

Apple: I think my friend is diseased, but it´s not just her opinion and I think they´re right, unfortunately :-(
Frozenicicles: I share your opinions about men and female appearance... and thanks for kind words Sometimes I doubt if it´s worth to practise hard, when I don´t look like a model :-/

Veronika, Some of the most talented female artists I have heard do not look like models or Miss America contestants, but I have been thrilled by their talent.

All I can say is "break a leg". Or in other words give it your all and don't worry about appearance.

If you had a choice, do you want to look like Susan Boyle with beautiful voice, or like Heidi Klump (not sure with the spelling) but cannot sing...

Is there no other teacher in your country worth studying with?
Unfortunately, for as ridiculous a topic as this seems to be there IS something to it. Grimaud, looks good sure, but I can't for the life of me figure out any other attraction to her, because it's certainly not her playing. Lisitsa, looks good (I suppose), but I don't hear much from her that goes beyond technique. There's a few others I could name, but I'm sure I'll have already touched a nerve a two with those names already.

veronika: You're from Czech Republic right? Last time I checked, 99.9% of Czech girls are very beautiful. (hehe hope my gf doesn't catch me saying this)

think of Martha Argerich. .. attractive, but no beauty queen (please don't throw any tomatoes). i think the beauty of a person can shine in their music.. not so much in their features, which sag anyway as they age.

Martha used to be beautiful!!! She is just old now....when she was young, she was beautiful and pleasant to look...

Are you serious? She was smokin' in her heyday! (sometimes literally haha)

Ummm yeah, check out this pic of Martha back in the day, totally hot

http://gotthesecheeseburgers.blogspot.com/2008/12/martha-argerichfryderyk-chopin-martha.html

One of my favorite pianists, Plamena Mangova, came in 2nd in the 2007 QEC. Talent will always out in the end.

Why am I being singled out? If I had a choice, honestly I would want to be very attractive. But then again, I am a 20 something year old so you'll want to view my choice with a grain of salt.

Hmmm. Look like Heidi Klum without a good singing voice...



or like Susan Boyle - who can sing well...



I'm thinking Heidi Klum. Hey ... you can always get a vocal coach.

as ia said, beauty doesn't last unless it's inner.

Why not have both?

Very nice. And of course I have that CD.

Then there's this one:

Exactly!

it wouldn't matter what you looked like if you wore this sheet music dress,

That dress is hideous lol

Do you know Tom Lykis? If you are a female, he will love to have you on his show. I know what he will ask you.

Well indeed...

Wouldn't care to take her to a classy restaurant. People might get the wrong idea.

In any profession, it helps to be good-looking. The public thinks that good-looking people are smarter and better at their job. But thin? Not the same thing. Very thin women make me feel sick. So do extremely extremely fat women who are more than a hundred pounds overweight. I don't know any men thin enough to make me sick, but lots of men are fat enough to do so.

Sadly, society is not exactly the same for men and for women. Very fat men are more easily accepted than are very fat women.

Anyone who is extremely thin or extremely fat should change their habits and try to improve their health.

Anyway, the real point is, whether you are in music, or law, or plumbing, or digging ditches, people will think you are better and smarter if you are good-looking. This is no reason to change your mind about music, because everywhere else is the same thing too.

If we had to depend on just the "beautiful people" to entertain us I for one would be dying of boredom!!!

Well, unfortunately there is some truth to it.. I can think of one (very well known) pianist in particular who likes small Asian girls, and guess what most of his studio is composed of?

But then again, just because someone looks okay or good doesn't mean they are automatically crappy musicians..

Dunno. In pop music all bets are off. One of the most electrifying jazz concerts I ever saw was Flora Purim... she was outstanding. Alas, not terribly 'eye candy' territory. Google if you wish.

OTH, I've seen this one in concert a few times and was not remotely disappointed:

And I WISH I could have seen this powerhouse in concert. Long before I was born, but her singing must have been a force to reckon with. My mother introduced me to her albums:

Thanks for that post, and I concur with your assessment. I enjoyed watching her performance.