# Classical music epic fails



## CountessAdele (Aug 25, 2011)

Found this pretty funny article on twitter, thought I'd post the link and see what you thought and/or if something similar has happened to you.

http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au...e-most-embarrassing-moments-in-concert.aspx/0


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Interesting article, LImelight is one of the best Aussie music mags, but I don't read it (I'd guess other Aussie members here may well be subscribers?).

Anyway, it is both funny and tragic when these things happen. I've never seen this kind of thing happen at a concert, although I've seen technical problems occur (resulting in pieces having to be played again, eg. the conductor not being happy with the way a contemporary orchestral work was played; & another one with a lead saxophonist at a electro-acoustic chamber concert stopping midway in a piece to adjust the amps/electronics).

I have talked to musicians I know, some have gone through this, one of them a violinist whose bridge of the violin broke at the start of a very long Shostakovich symphony. I think he was handed one, they had one spare or something. But I've also heard a violinist ducking out during the symphony to get a new violin if one was not there as a spare. Esp. if it's at the start of a long Shostakovich or Mahler symphony. You wouldn't just stay there for another 45 mins. or more not playing, you'd just go out and get a violin and bugger the consequences, the rest of the section just has to make do without you until you get back...


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

CountessAdele said:


> Found this pretty funny article on twitter, thought I'd post the link and see what you thought and/or if something similar has happened to you.:


That's almost unwatchable!


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## hawk (Oct 1, 2007)

These video clips were hilarious. I loved the violists' reaction when the bridge broke. Cool under pressure....


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## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

Seen most of them before, but they're always good for a laugh. I'm surprised they didn't include this video though:


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

This is a string quartet I was in my senior year of highschool, we played the finale of Grieg's g minor string quartet. There were two fails of this performance, both involving me, the violist (and also the only one who's not an asian girl, I had fun in that group  ).

Anyway, the first one at the beginning involves a fugal section at the very beginning, unfortunately, the cello comes in in unison with me instead of after me...and at around 3:55, my music drops as I'm trying to turn the page!! 

Never mind that my intonation sounds like a dying cat...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

^^ I admire how you're showing your not so great moments, violadude. It's very human & natural. Anyway, makes me think, it's a bit disturbing how now everything can go on youtube, it can even go viral. Not only with music of course, also with other more "sexy" things as we know. Beethoven didn't have to worry about this, nor any of those other guys around before this kind of technology, not only in terms of taping or filming, but spreading it everywhere online. If someone like Beethoven made a "blooper," then it would not be recorded for posterity...


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Sid James said:


> ^^ I admire how you're showing your not so great moments, violadude. It's very human & natural. Anyway, makes me think, it's a bit disturbing how now everything can go on youtube, it can even go viral. Not only with music of course, also with other more "sexy" things as we know. Beethoven didn't have to worry about this, nor any of those other guys around before this kind of technology, not only in terms of taping or filming, but spreading it everywhere online. If someone like Beethoven made a "blooper," then it would not be recorded for posterity...


Good point Sid, this happens constantly in politics. Any time a politician makes a silly speech mistake that any one would make, they are smeared and labeled stupid for it. Even though if it happened to any normal person in real life, they would just have a good healthy laugh about the slip up and that would be the end of it. It's just because the politicians are in the limelight that they get heavily criticized for the same slip of the tongues or brain farts that happen to lots of people every day.


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## CountessAdele (Aug 25, 2011)

Ravellian said:


> Seen most of them before, but they're always good for a laugh. I'm surprised they didn't include this video though:


Oh, poor guy! Brava to him for plowing on!


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## CountessAdele (Aug 25, 2011)

Jeremy Marchant said:


> That's almost unwatchable!


 Almost. I think the best policy (aready mentioned in the article) is to just laugh it off. Which makes sense because when that sort of thing happens everyone freezes and waits for a reaction, so a calm shrug or a quick joke will set the audience at ease. If the people in these videos had a fit then the audience would probably be less forgiving.

What did you think of the music teacher clip?


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

CountessAdele said:


> What did you think of the music teacher clip?


It's the only one I wouldn't consider a fail.

The rest are similar to all the videos YouTube continues to recommend to me about Lady Gag falling off the stage. Why would I want to see that? Just because I think her music is a little boring doesn't mean I want to see her fall. I guess these videos do show us grace under pressure however.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Your talking of grace under pressure, *Weston*, reminds me of ages ago in 1994, *Prince Charles *came here and he was attacked by this Asian guy called David Kang with a start pistol. I have searched on youtube and there are three videos/reports about that listed on my search, HERE. People at the time said Prince Charles kept his cool, and this shows he has the chops in how to act in these situations, keep calm. But I think some other people said the attack was so quick, that maybe he didn't notice it much at the time. You be the judge.

(& as we know, as is further down this video list, the prince has made some "gaffes" himself, saying things just within earshot of very sensitive microphones that picked up every word without him knowing it would become public)...


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