Many Americans still have a lot to learn about basic concert manners – even though it’s mostly a matter of common sense and basic consideration of others. It seems that this time ‘round, there are more of these uncouth clods on the loose than ever – as well as more offensive electronic gizmos – disrupting the artistic enjoyment of others. They’re everywhere! Who among us hasn’t heard cellphones or blackberries bleeping obnoxiously in mid-concert (usually at the quietest, most delicate moment)? I’ve even heard tell of folks standing up, craning to get a better angle as they capture audio-visual snippets on their cell-cams.
I had a hard time believing that last one until yesterday – when, during the “Les Angelus” concert at St. Stephen’s (featuring the ladies of the Westminster Choir) – I finally saw even worse, for the first time. A lady (?) a couple of rows ahead of me was blithely framing & snapping flash photos of the action, at close quarters, with her digital camera. Can you imagine firing off a highly visible flash in the faces of performing singers, as they try to concentrate on memorized lines? She ignored the startled performers’ faces and her fellow concertgoers as they stared daggers at her. Just as the ushers were about to march to the rescue, I scribbled an indignant note, and passed it to her. She then stared daggers at me, but it solved the problem — that is, until the next inconsiderate oaf surfaces. I wish I knew her name — I’d have absolutely no problem humiliating her in pirnt.
What’s to be done? Pre-concert reminders have been sounding like broken records for a long time – but what more can we do than that? Mandatory pre-Spoleto concert etiquette tests before you can buy tickets? (Remedial instruction required — C.E. 101 — for a failing score.) Pre-concert X-ray scanners or strip-searches for electronic devices? I don’t think so. Sad to say, but I think we’re just going to have to accept the fact that some of the basic standards of decent civilization have become obsolete, and frequent disturbances from an ever-growing array of hi-tech noisemakers are now an irrevocable part of the modern territory. Alas.
One Comment
From all the way in Philadelphia, that resounding “BRAVO!” you here is from me. Not only am I a concert-goer from the old school, but am a professional singer in a vocal duo. I’ve been blinded by flash cameras even after a pre-concert announcement was made about refraining from the use of flash cameras. I’ve endured people washing dishes and setting up for a post-concert reception at the quietest moment in a piece.
Worst yet, though, I attended a performance of the Philadelphia Opera Company - The Marriage of Figaro. During the very last act, the oafs who run the concession stands were in a hurry to pack up and get out, and let the entire concert hall at the Academy of Music know about it. Mozart accompanied by clanging trays and slamming doors doesn’t work for me. Needless to say, I placed a phone call to the executive offices of the Academy of Music the next day. This group of vendors was admonished. I got a refund for my two tickets. But that still leaves the door open for someone else to find another way to be rude.
Thank you for writing. And good luck with the Spoleto Festival (audience-wise, that is).