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Fed up with people making noise at classical shows

Last night I heard Vladimir Feltsman perform Chopin's Ballades at the Perelman Theater in Philadelphia's Kimmel Center. My excitement was building as my favorite part of the first Ballade approached. Immediately before the key was struck, someone sneezed. It was at that moment that I asked myself, "What the hell am I doing here? I have this at home, recorded by three different pianists." Throughout the performance were the sounds of coughing, sneezing moving in one's seat, dropping of programs, and talking.

I know this is the chance you take when attending live classical concerts and I LOVE hearing live music, but frankly I'm sick of it. I'm sick of paying money for traveling and the ticket itself just to be annoyed for two hours. Last Tuesday night a ringing cell phone disrupted a performance by the New York Philharmonic to the point where the conductor actually stopped the orchestra half way through Mahler's Ninth and addressed the moron who wouldn't shut it off.

Once, DURING A PERFORMANCE, someone got out of their seat, walked up to the stage and began "conducting the orchestra" with an imaginary baton.

As I said, I love attending live music, but when things like this happen, I'm ready to just stay home and save myself the aggravation.

Sorry, just had to vent.
devilboy

Showing 17 responses by devilboy

devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
Davt: It's about the RESPECT that one should give to the composer, the musicians, the audience and most importantly, the MUSIC itself. One thing I've noticed attending around twenty concerts a season for seven years is this: MOST, not all, but most of the audience is made up of older people. Not middle-aged, but older. Look, I'm not saying that only older people make noise at shows, but let's be real, it's an ocean of gray and white at classical concerts. Maybe the older generation has a difficult time being silent? Coughing, sneezing, dropping things, etc. I can't believe I just wrote that but hey, it is what it is.
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
Yes, before every concert I've been to, the Master of Ceremonies, Program Director or whoever, asks the audience for the obvious: shut off cell phones, take candy out of the wrapper, etc. Apparently not everyone listens.

Brownsfan sees my point perfectly. It's not arrogance, it's common sense. There are actions which are acceptable in some places, not in others.

Chadnliz: American arrogance? Seriously? I'm an arrogant American because I believe the music and the PAYING audience members deserve the respect of silence during a piece of music? When I went to Pantera concerts, I was screaming and moshing with the rest of them. When I hear Barber's Adagio for strings I shut the hell up. I have common sense. I guess that makes me an arrogant American.
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
Now that I think more about it, it's not ONLY about having common sense. It's about the emotions felt during an event. If one goes to a rock concert, the material itself suggests that one gets out of their seat, screams and shouts, claps hands or dances in the isle. I think the emotions Beethoven was feeling when writing the Moonlight Sonata demanded silence and attention. When listening to that, how do you not sit still?
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
Chadnliz: Sorry if my first reaction upon hearing someone disrupt the music I'm 1) paying to hear, and 2) trying to have a emotional connection with, isn't, "Well, at least I have a job." While I understand the point you were trying to make, it still doesn't justify the actions by the people. There have been remarks calling some of us "classical snobs." We are not snobs, we just have the courtesy to respect the listening experience of others.
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
Chadnliz: Enough already with the, "horrible lives", angle. Let me remind you this is an audio site and within this site members discuss things related to audio. This site is a platform for such discussions.
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
Pdspec1: Exactly my point. Talking loudly and laughing over the music at a rock concert is the equivalent to coughing and sneezing throughout a quiet classical piece with solo piano. Obviously a cough or sneeze is of no concern to someone attending a rock concert. We have to put things in perspective here. I wish someone else saw it that way too...

So yes, I agree with you.
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
I'm 36. I've been listening to classical for about seven years and jazz since my late teens.
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
Next weekend I will attend a concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra performing Rimsky Korsakov's Scheherazade. I believe there will be less,(if any), distractions due to the material being played and the volumes that will be reached. This is what I meant from the beginning. Much different than attending a performance of Chopin.
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
Good point Minorl. Now also think about the effect not on the audience, but the musicians. Surely one would think that a musician can play more passionately when he/she doesn't hear distractions from the audience, so the quality of the music being played would be more emotional and enjoyable.

So, think about this: Maybe someone sitting on the opposite end of the theater wouldn't hear a cough or sneeze, but the musician did. So the music suffers, which in turn affects him anyway.
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
@ml8: no need to hate classical simply because, (and I'm assuming here), you don't attend live classical concerts. It's different from other genres of music......and I like MANY different types.  My original complaint was, if you can't be silent at a concert, stay the hell home and don't ruin it for the others who paid.
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
Btw, I find it very hard to believe that in 30 concerts you've heard no noise from the audience.  I couldn't go 30 minutes without hearing something. 
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
Hello again Schube.  You have a good point.
Maybe because this is Philly and here on the east coast, we're a little less polite than other areas of the country. (actually, a lot less).
You either love it or hate it. 
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
No coughs in 30 concerts?
BS.
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
Lmao! That's the funniest thing you've said since we started "chatting".
See Schube, we CAN be friends!
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
Not that it matters but, I’m in New Jersey btw.
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
You're my hero, bachtoven!
devilboy OP
1,176 posts
 
Last night I heard Denes Varjon perform Chopin, Schumann and Haydn at Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.  Including with the coughing and other noises, a cell phone rang durring Chopin's Nocturne in B flat major.  
Last week at a performance of Brahms' violin concerto, I heard a cell phone ring durring the violin solo. The jerk was sitting in the front row 10 feet from the violinist.

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