Hanna Höglund, a columnist at the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, argues that sex appeal is treated as acceptable at the conductor's podium when the conductor is a man. Her column was published on Saturday, 3 October 2026, under a headline stating that being sexy is fine in the conductor's role if you are male, according to Dagens Nyheter.
The piece, as summarized by the paper, centers on a contrast in how conductors are judged. Höglund's argument, per Dagens Nyheter, is that a man leading an orchestra can be viewed as attractive without that perception counting against him.
Only the headline and summary of the column were available, so the specific examples and names Höglund cites are not covered here. The column appeared in Dagens Nyheter's opinion section.
The topic touches on a broader discussion in classical music about how performers are presented and received, though the source material does not detail which cases or figures prompted Höglund's column.
What to watch next: whether other commentators or figures in the classical music world respond to Höglund's argument, and whether Dagens Nyheter follows with further coverage of the subject.
