After discussing the recent Onion article entitled “If Itzhak Perlman Is Performing On TV Right Now, Who is Feeding My Cat?” (thanks, Denise)
at lunch yesterday, my friend Maureen and I debated who was more famous: Itzhak Perlman or Yo-Yo Ma. I argued for IP, and she
for Yo-Yo.
Post King’s Singers’ concert in Princeton last night,
I decided to obtain some hard evidence on the subject and polled three male Woodrow
Wilson School students at the Dbar. “Name a classical musician” was my
test. Two out of the three said Yo-Yo Ma. (The third proudly proclaimed
“Hilary Hahn!”, which I suspect directly correlates to his being the only
guy in the group I knew.)
You out there reading this – you’re probably in the industry, and I don’t think we can count ourselves. But can you ask your friends? Or total strangers, like I did? Who is the first (and perhaps only) classical musician the world-at-large can name, and why do we think that is? What does Yo-Yo have that Itzhak doesn’t, and vice versa?
N.B. The Woodrow Wilson boys elaborated that they thought Yo-Yo was the famous-er of the two because his name is both easier and “more fun” to pronounce. Thanks, Future International Conflict Resolving Minds of America.
Um, Placido Domingo? I may be biased on this one (I am the publicist for one of his companies) but Domingo is far and away more famous than Perlman and Ma put together (though all of the men are completely brilliant and deserve huge acclaim). Ya ya, I know you said “musician,” Amanda, but I’m sure you’re not suggesting that our great classical singers are any less musicians than our great instrumentalists. The voice is an instrument too.
But removing Domingo from the mix, I would say Yo Yo Ma, then Perlman. I have a couple reasons for this: One, Ma has reached the mainstream through The Simpsons and Sesame Street and collaborations with contemporary artists like James Taylor and Bobby McFerrin. Those things alone go a long way towards name recognition. If Perlman has ventured into the mainstream like this, I’m not aware of it. Second, I am of the opinion that the cello is a more broadly accessible instrument that a non-classical lover can appreciate, but that’s open to debate.
But here’s a layman’s response: When asked to name 3 classical musicians, my husband, who knows less than nothing about classical music, warmed my heart when he quickly and proudly started off with JOSH BELL. Why does he know about Josh Bell? Because of the Pulitzer prizewinning WashPost piece where Josh busked for pennies. This was just a sign that my little old publicist job may have a purpose. Then, without further prompting, he said Yo Yo Ma, then Itzhak Perlman. He cited The Simpsons as part of the reason he knew about Ma. Ah, popular culture…
An informal poll of some of New Jersey’s finest stagehands yielded the following results:
3 – Yo-Yo Ma
3 – Lang Lang
2 – Perlman
1 – Hahn
1- That panda that plays the cello
1 – The Three Tenors (Not really one artist, but I’ll let that slip).
Most common answers when asked why they made their choice:
1) He’s got a fun name.
2) They were really cool to hang out with backstage.
3) Come on – it’s a panda playing a cello – need I say more?
As an aside, we had a very lively debate (otherwise known as yelling at each other while putting away music stands) on whether Yo-Yo Ma was really that much more fun to say than Itzhak.
Well, Kramer thought Yo-Yo Ma was fun to say.
http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheTicket.html
Commenter Michelle, you’re not playing the game. This is a Ma/Perlman face-off!
That said, if the game was “name an opera singer” I doubt Placido Domingo would be people’s first answer. I suspect most would say “Andrea Bocelli” or “Pavarotti”. And even if they did say “Domingo”, would they know if it was his first name or last name??? He’s known for being one of the “Three Tenors”, as Anonymous Stagehand pointed out, not for his companies or current work. Sorry!
I don’t care who are they are most famous, All i can say it that, I love them both..:)
I’d have to say Ma is the “winner” here, though if you really polled a cross-section of 100 members of the general American public, you’d probably only find 4 or 5 people that could think of ANY classical musician’s name. So let’s keep things in perspective.
How about composers? there, it’s a one-man slam-dunk: Philip Glass. When you’re well-known enough to get lampooned on South Park, you’ve definitely permeated the popular culture.
Yo-Yo Ma.
My evidence:
When I got great Josh Bell tickets, it took me 6 people to find someone who cared beyond, “oh, I like violin…”
When I got Hahn tickets for my girlfriend for valentine’s day (yay Chapel Hill!) nobody but my dad had heard of her, and he from a comic strip online.
In Contrast:
While watching the inauguration, the general reaction was, “Hey, the Yo-Yo Ma quartet playing John Williams!”
And, while my “best concert” story may be about Josh Bell (he played the day after our student body president was murdered; it was pretty intense), I get the best reaction by telling people I sat on stage with Yo-Yo Ma.
If I may, here is the comic strip. -AA
I have to side with Ma as well; one reason I wouldn’t say Perlman though is that I don’t even know how to pronounce his first name properly…Yo-Yo Ma is both easier to remember and pronounce yet distinctly memorable as a name.
I’d have to say Ma is the “winner” here, though if you really polled a cross-section of 100 members of the general American public, you’d probably only find 4 or 5 people that could think of ANY classical musician’s name. So let’s keep things in perspective.