Cough vigilante

I recently auditioned several preliminary DAT masters taken from the mixing board of Delos recording sessions. These featured the Dallas Symphony Orchestra with Andrew Litton. The coughs, sneezes and other unwanted noises you mention in your posting were indeed present, along with the music. To avoid this occurring on the final release, cough drops are issued at the door, along with posted requests for patrons to turn off all electronics, including Palm Pilot alarms, beeping watches, pagers and cell phones. Then just before the concert, there is a polite but pointed announcement made reminding everyone that a master recording is being made of the performance. The audience is requested not to spindle or drop papers, jewelry, pocket change or keys, and if possible, avoid unnecessary movement until a break in the performance. After all these precautions are taken, flaws are repaired or diminished digitally in post production. The final result is that people such as yourself, may enjoy the music with fewer interruptions than if you had attended in person. These annoyances present in a final release are controlled to a great extent by the conductor, the producer and the engineer involved. Fortunately, there are artists that share your frustration and seek the same level of perfection you desire. It is accomplished by first gaining the respect and cooperation of the listening audience and then when required, using technology to produce a release that is as close to perfection as a live audience recording will permit.

I recall someone once referring to a live piece of music that we went to see as "Double concerto for violin and hacking cough".

Here in NJ, Maestro Macaal has had to turn in the middle of some concerts and beg the audience to try to keep their coughing to a minimum. When recording for archives or for Delos, the announcements mentioned by Albert have been made as well before the concert. The same acoustics in the NJ Performing Arts Center that make it possible for Macaal to bring the orchestra to a pppp on some pieces also work the other way--he and some of the orchestra members have told me that coughs can sound like bombs on stage. My practice has been that if I have a bad cold and cough, I'll have to give my tickets to a friend; otherwise I think that inattention is a reason some otherwise healthy people cough at these performances, and I must admit that does grate on me at times. And don't get me started on the time I was at a NY Philharmonic concert a couple of years ago and cell phones went off TWICE in the performance!!! That is inexcusable. Thanks for letting me vent, Charlie, you are not alone.

i'm a little shy about admitting this. when i was a mischievious teen attending classical concerts i would cough during a lull in the program just to see how many others would react to my suggestion and follow suit. result never less than two, haha.

...and how ironic that some concert-goers "time" their exclamations for the quieter passages, somehow "thinking" this is LESS interruptive of the music!
Well, spring is coming, and with it higher relative humidity in artificially heated halls, and consequently fewer scratchy throats needing clearing. Phew!