Did anyone else watch that uncomfortably showy "classical music and jazz" moment in the Grammy Award show on CBS last night? Lang Lang and Herbie Hancock performed a double piano and big-band orchestra mini-version of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

Talk about over the top.

I realize the Grammys are a night when goofy, even horrible things are done to the very music that is being celebrated -- from bands having to cut right to their hooks to incongruent musician tandems to singers way past their prime. But still, this Gershwin bit was overdone and nearly without musicianship.

The arrangement, by former Pittsburgh Opera music director John Mauceri (who also conducted), cut the piece in half and basically called for the two pianists to pound on their pianos as hard as they could. Lang Lang was eating up the spotlight and a mugging Mauceri spent more time needlessly "conducting" the pianists, in exaggerated fashion, than his orchestra.

Look, I am all for classical music reaching more people, but this wasn't classical music! A watered-down, hyped up portion of a piece played with little regard for actual musicianship might seem more "rock-ish" and fitting for an awards show, but it's not showing people much of what makes non-commercial art music great. Actually, I would think in a high-voltage show like the Grammys an bit of acoustic splendor like, yes, Lang Lang, playing a Chopin prelude or something might actually work. Or how about some new music, where the heart of classical composition now beats? By focusing only on spectacle little of what makes classical music great was actually showcased...