Of course I can't find it now, but the other day I ran across an article with quotes from a wide range of pianists all saying how it was really ok with them if the audience clapped between movements. Gyorgy Sokolov was not among those quoted I hasten to mention. Some even averred that it might be ok to clap anytime you felt the need to respond enthusiastically to a particular passage. Against all that I offer the following clip of a Victor Borge performance.
At the 20 second mark he stands up and says: "Don't you like good music? Why do you interrupt me all the time?"
A performance of Tchaikovsky 6 at the Proms a week back had applause after each of the four movements. The orchestra even tried to go straight into last movement from the third, but the audience weren't having it and applauded over the music. Though actually, I might support clapping after the first three movements if the last movement was then received with appreciative silence. I'm sure somehow I read something by Debussy where he said, when you see a sunset do you ever think of applauding? (Obviously he didn't anticipate social media, in which wondrous things like sunsets are filmed while the social media performers give loud, gesture-filled reactions to the event, usually with banal music in the background.)
ReplyDeleteTwo things, other than the artists and programming, I have really enjoyed attending concerts in Madrid and Salzburg in recent years is that there is never half-baked chatter from the artists before the music, nor does anyone ever clap between movements. And, in the case of concerts by Sokolov, they don't even clap until the end of each half!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Bryan, I like silence before the music, audience silence during it, and then some silent delay before any applause after a finale. All this to set a meditative mindset for closest listening and purest internal response. Also I like formality in the dress and comportment of the artists. Usually I like them to leave any introductions of the music and musicians to the written notes. And please, no crinkly candy wrappers!
ReplyDeleteThat summarizes it nicely. I think we want a classical concert to be as different from a Taylor Swift show as possible.
ReplyDeleteI’m in total agreement with Mr. Wilkin and you, Byran. Apropos the last sentence of your reply to Will, this from CNN: “According to seismologist Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, raucous Taylor Swift concertgoers at Lumen Field in Seattle recently registered seismic activity equivalent to a 2.3 magnitude earthquake.”
ReplyDeleteP.S. Just noticed that I mistyped your name, Bryan--for which I apologize profusely. Would that I might remember to proofread before pressing the "submit" panel.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think intimidating an audience from expressing spontaneous reaction to music is a good idea. The power and strength of a performance should be enough to hush an audience. In any event, reverential, church-like silence was apparently not the practice when the works were first presented 250 years ago. Did I just read a quote from a Mozart letter complaining about chatter among Paris audiences? Live performance involving a human audience is likely to create intrusions, I just accept that. I’ve been annoyed by fellow concert goers who flip through programs, chat, whatever. It comes with the territory.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think overall the penguin suit dress has the affect of alienating younger audiences. It telegraphs that this music is stuck in bygone eras and has nothing to say to modern audiences. All art must be refreshed and created anew for each generation.
Just play it in the street, right?
ReplyDeleteVictor Borge will always be a winning argument for the redeeming values and elasticity of music with a claim to "classical" status.
ReplyDeleteAs you note in a subsequent post, Bryan, we should take comfort in the security and ownership of great music on CD and continue our prayers that playback equipment will function for the foreseeable future.
Amen to that!
ReplyDelete