Klarinet Archive - Posting 000865.txt from 1998/12

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: [kl] Cynthia's Christmas Concert
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1998 21:26:35 -0500

I was very touched by Cynthia's description of her emotions at her
Christmas Concert in the Netherlands. And her story has an important
musical message.

At almost every concert that we play, a presumption is made about
the audience decorum, and when that presumption is violated we feel
that something went wrong. For example, it is considered inappropriate
to applaud or otherwise express audience appreciation between movements.
There is an unspoken understanding that requests that "you save it until
the end."

Yet this kind of behavior is not what was expected from the audience
at a concert of, say, 1780. When they liked something, often in the
middle of a movement, they demonstrated their gratitude right then and
there. Mozart writes that the audience insisted on the repetition of
a cadenza even before the movement was finished.

There is a great bond between the audience and the performers. We play
better when we know that the audience is appreciative, and vice versa.
Cynthia has described exactly that phenomenon and it is unfortunate
that that kind of audience behavior is seen as abberant. It takes people
who are intellectually challenged to demonstrate to the rest of the
concert going world exactly how audiences should behave at a concert.

Can you imaging a rock concert demanding that kind of audience behavior?
"Just sit there and shut up until we are done. Then you can applaud."

No wonder that concert goers are getting fewer while those who take
advantage of positive audience reaction are getting more exposure.

I once had an idiot of a conductor who would turn around and glare at
the audience if they made any sign of positive recpeption prior to the
very last note. Quelle schmuck!

Bottom line: Cynthia has described an audience reaction that should be
the norm, but is not, unfortunately.

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Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
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