No fan of the rules around applause in classical concerts, Alex Ross says let our applause be heard:
Emanuel Ax, not a showboating pianist, complains on his website: “I am always a little taken aback when I hear the first movement of a concerto which is supposed to be full of excitement, passion, and virtuoso display (like the Brahms or Beethoven Concertos), and then hear a rustling of clothing, punctuated by a few coughs; the sheer force of the music calls for a wild audience reaction.” It is the sound of people suppressing their instincts.
Worse is the hushing of attempted applause. People who applaud in the “wrong” place are presumably not in the habit of attending concerts regularly. They may well be attending for the first time. Having been hissed at, they may never attend again. And shushing is itself noise. I often hear a “shhhh!” from another part of the hall without having heard whatever minor disturbance elicited it. In an ironic twist, these self-appointed prefects have made themselves more of a nuisance than those whom they are righteously reprimanding.
Alex Ross (no, not that Alex Ross) writes about classical music for The New Yorker. The Guardian piece was adapted from and published the day of his Royal Philharmonic Society Lecture, Hold Your Applause: Inventing and Reinventing the Classical Concert (pdf).
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