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
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.

I heard a story the other day about Gustav Mahler attending the premiere of Schoenberg's first string quartet.  Some people hissed the new music and when Mahler admonished one of the hissers he was told, "it's okay, I also hiss your symphonies!"
For me, and I suspect most here, listening to music is an emotional experience. When someone disrupts that experience (which can be elusive) it is terribly aggravating and in my opinion, disrespectful to the artist performing. If that makes me a snob then so be it. How often do we have the chance to get lost in a musical experience which can be so therapeutic? Not often. When someone disturbs the music it is analogous to robbing us of that experience, and just as someone who pulls out in front of you while driving it is extremely rude. I am greatly disturbed by those who think only of themselves and are not considerate of others. We all need to consider others while at concerts and not just ourselves.

Gee, I sound like a real jerk perhaps but since music is important to me I have strong feelings about it. I used to frequent a small club that featured wonderful live music. The owner ran the place like a mini concert hall and had strict rules about talking while the artist performed. The amazing thing that happened at times is that the entire place would go completely silent. You could tell that the entire group in attendance was just wrapped up in the music. That was a wonderful experience and was quite fleeting. We should all think about that when we listen to live music.    
I've been to a few places where it was understood that you don't make noise or do anything distracting while the performance was underway.  Curiously, they were not classical music venues.  My worst experiences have been at classical performances.