# Wow! I don't know what I would have done...



## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/new-york-philharmonic-interrupted-by-chimes-mahler-never-intended/


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

I would have been infuriated and had I been sitting next to the guy I would have probably ushered him out myself!

Kevin


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

As this was so blatant, dumb and thoughtless and the guy didn't even have the balls to initially fess up then a ban from the venue at the management's discretion should have been considered. My friend told me that when he was at a solemn funeral service for an ex-Royal Marine, the coffin (complete with the Union Flag, service medals and beret) borne by RM veterans made it's dignified way up the aisle just as the unmistakable tones of La Cucaracha suddenly sailed out from a mourner's pocket. I'm told he was lucky that the next funeral wasn't actually his.


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

elgars ghost said:


> As this was so blatant, dumb and thoughtless and the guy didn't even have the balls to initially fess up then a ban from the venue at the management's discretion should have been considered. My friend told me that when he was at a solemn funeral service for an ex-Royal Marine, the coffin (complete with the Union Flag, service medals and beret) borne by RM veterans made it's dignified way up the aisle just as the unmistakable tones of La Cucaracha suddenly sailed out from a mourner's pocket. I'm told he was lucky that the next funeral wasn't actually his.


Wow, that story is awful. Worse in many ways....

I'm still shocked that the people forget to silence their phones even with the reminder. And to think about you have hundreds/thousands who have spent so much money on this performance, and the performance is essentially destroyed. I've seen Mahler's 9th only one time in the concert hall, but being that it's my favorite piece of music of all time it was something I looked forward to every day for 7 months. Had that been the one I'd went to, I would have felt tremendously robbed.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

You know Davidmahler, that both Bruckner symphony experiences I've had live have been interrupted by cellphones in the slow movements?!? Both the Fourth and the Seventh!! Its very annoying and uncomfortable when this happens.


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)

some people are just incredibly stupid or forgetful. but they should be allowed to attend events as well. i don't think it's a big deal. the reaction from the crowd is enough to teach you a lesson.


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

clavichorder said:


> You know Davidmahler, that both Bruckner symphony experiences I've had live have been interrupted by cellphones in the slow movements?!? Both the Fourth and the Seventh!! Its very annoying and uncomfortable when this happens.


Wow! Its like they have people call on purpose.

Did the conductor stop?


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Almost puts me off wanting to attend concerts. The few that I have been to had good audiences, but as someone who needs to be cautious with their spending most of the time hearing stories like this makes me think twice about about whether the price of admission is worth it when the whole performance can be ruined in seconds by a small communications device.

Also, when it comes to my favourite music I often find myself moving about in time with the music, armchair dancing you might call it. This may not cause the same disturbance but it would certainly **** more than a few people off.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

DavidMahler said:


> Wow! Its like they have people call on purpose.
> 
> Did the conductor stop?


I don't think he did, actually, but everyone in the audience turned and glared in the direction of the offender. I also seem to recall that we had an especially dumb audience that night that clapped at the end of every movement, and the conductor really gave the audience a raised eyebrow that silenced a lot of people.


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

I am bothered immensely by excessive coughing in the audience. The last concert I went to was with my girlfriend who had never attended a classical music concert. We saw the Mahler 2. In the audience at nearly every 5 second interval, there were coughs and the only time it was not audible was during loud sections. I stop spending my money on it. Makes me sad.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

DavidMahler said:


> I am bothered immensely by excessive coughing in the audience. The last concert I went to was with my girlfriend who had never attended a classical music concert. We saw the Mahler 2. In the audience at nearly every 5 second interval, there were coughs and the only time it was not audible was during loud sections. I stop spending my money on it. Makes me sad.


It makes me annoyed at how ridiculous people are, but nonetheless, I think that concert going in the modern age is a character building experience. You have to get past the stuffiness of the atmosphere and just sink into the music, tune everything out, pretend you are watching a movie. That's how I cope...


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

As a solo performer myself, I am irritated by ringing mobile phones while playing. There is just no excuse for anyone to not silence those things _before _entering any performance hall, museum, church or for that matter, any public building including restaurants.

More than not, while dining, some idiots phone will start ringing ... and then they let it ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring, like if to say "look at me, I have a cell phone!", then they don't even have the courtesy to leave the dining area to converse with the caller ... we always here (and loudly) one side of the conversation.

I own and use on a regular basis a mobile phone - I am conscious of how it disturbs others, and will set it to vibrate mode if in any public place - even the local mom and pop cafe - I wish everyone who owned these contraptions would do the same just out of courtesy to others.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

It seems that not all of you have looked a little bit further to the events in this particular case. Of course, bad things happen, but this was more of an innocent mistake than an inconsiderate ****. The man in question, fairly late in life, had recently bought an iPhone. He made sure when entering the concert to turn it off. Sure enough, it started going off, and he genuinely did not think it was him, and was looking around to find out who it was. He realised it was his phone, and that its alarm was going off, because - unknown to him - an iPhone alarm will still sound even if the phone has been switched off. The man in question was a long-time subscriber, which is why he wasn't banned.

The problem was not some idiot that the audience should have pounced on. The problem was technology assuming it knows better than its user.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Buongiorno.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Polednice said:


> Buongiorno.


Brilliant! :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Olias said:


> Brilliant! :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:


I agree; I'm laughing out loud!


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Wow, I feel absolutely sorry for that guy.

I read a follow up of that story too:

http://gothamist.com/2012/01/13/philharmonic_iphone_disrupter_hasnt.php

I hope he sleeps tonight. I mean, it was absolutely stupid to happen, but I still feel really bad for him.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

'...it was only in the car going home that his wife checked the settings on his phone and found that the alarm had been set...'

Good God - I hope she wasn't driving at the time...

Anyway, consider the harrumph quotient of my earlier post duly reduced bearing in mind how bad the bloke felt afterwards.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

I would have taken off my $2000 white veal leather gloves and slapped him in the face.


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## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

I would have been cheering at the end too.


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## hespdelk (Mar 19, 2011)

I think it was a powerful statement, conceptual art if you will, representing the banality and trivialization of modern iLife. 


On a more serious note, seems to have been an unfortunate accident.. but oh how I loathe such interuptions at key moments... I feel the same when listening at home.. it is a dream of mine to one day have a fully sound proofed listening room.. with a padlock..


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

Polednice,

I do appreciate the whole story. I knew before posting the thread why it happened and how badly the guy felt. But in the heat of the moment, with soneones cell phone continuously going off at the most intensely personal passage in my favorite piece of music, enough so to persuade the conductor to literally stop...I wonder what I would have done if I'd been sitting next to the guy. I also wonder what I would have done if I'd been the actual culprit. I also wonder what I would have done if I was the conductor. If I was the conductor, I may not have stopped. And even tho the culprit did it by accident, thinking that his phone was off, maybe his ears are not suited to be going to the concert hall anymore if after several minutes of continuous ringing, he can't pick up on the sound spatially as being from his pocket. Everyone around him knew it was him, save perhaps his wife. I have a feeling, he didn't know how turn it off, thinking that he already did and couldnt fathom why it was happening, so he pretended like it wasn't him.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

I think this is a lesson in stopping yourself from becoming angry or otherwise heavily influenced by emotion without greater contextual information. It was an inconvenience, but people who automatically jump to the conclusion that "it must be some idiot" need to question their assumptions - in life as well as the concert hall.

Cool down, folks. C'est la vie.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

You may be right, Poledy... but then the old fart shouldn't have been buying an i-phone if he didn't have the least idea how it works. Probably just wanted to look "with it". He should have stuck with a Jitterbug.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> . . . but then the old fart shouldn't have been buying an i-phone if he didn't have the least idea how it works . . .


Or at least, having bought it, sat down with it for a few hours and learn everything to know about it. If totally unsure of it, the man should have left it in the car or at home. Surely he would have survived a few hours without having it with him.

Whenever I get a new toy like that, I won't step out in public with it until I fully understand everything about it ... what alarms do this or that and when. I've never been caught with my pants down like that ... ever - it's just inexcusable to do what the gentleman did. Maybe an honest mistake, but it was a mistake that could have been prevented with a little fore thought on part of the individual.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Krummhorn said:


> Or at least, having bought it, sat down with it for a few hours and learn everything to know about it. If totally unsure of it, the man should have left it in the car or at home. Surely he would have survived a few hours without having it with him.
> 
> Whenever I get a new toy like that, I won't step out in public with it until I fully understand everything about it ... what alarms do this or that and when. I've never been caught with my pants down like that ... ever - it's just inexcusable to do what the gentleman did. Maybe an honest mistake, but it was a mistake that could have been prevented with a little fore thought on part of the individual.


I think you're right in general, but this is a special case. It is extremely counter-intuitive to think that when you _have_ switched a phone off, that its alarms are an exception and will continue to work. He took all the precautions anyone could have asked of him; it's just that his smartphone was too smart for its own good.


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## eorrific (May 14, 2011)

:lol::lol::lol:


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

eorrific said:


> :lol::lol::lol:


Funny! This one by the same person has a great ending:


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## eorrific (May 14, 2011)

Polednice said:


> Funny! This one by the same person has a great ending:


:lol::lol: A less violent approach to express extreme frustration.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

Folks seen the update on this story? Here's an explanation.

Would suck to be Patron X.


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## Lunasong (Mar 15, 2011)

My local classical station will be playing this concert tomorrow night in the regularly scheduled NYP broadcast show. Should be a more-than-usual interesting listen.


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