# Has a conductor ever been booed by the audience?



## Guest (Jun 14, 2012)

Hi. Please be gentle: I'm new at this. Has anyone ever been to a classical concert where the conductor received a less than glowing audience reception at the end of a piece? At the end of the concert? Perhaps little or no applause or even some booing? What's the least positive response you've witnessed? Thanks hugely for your input. --Jacki


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

I was at a concert with the norwegian chamber orchestra & leif ove andsnes, and they played a lot of contemporary music. Most people walked out of there in a rush when people were clapping at the end of the concert. Always thought that was a bit rude. But i dont see why people would boo at a conductor though


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Sorry, double post!


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

The late Italian tenor Luciano Pavorotti was famously booed once at Milan's La Scala opera house in the 1980's. Later in an interview, Pavorotti said something like 'they had a right to boo, they paid for a perfect performance.'

But I have not heard or read about a conductor being booed in a purely instrumental performance. But similar to Ravndal above, I have seen people leave, esp. during interval to avoid a 'Modern' work coming up in the second half (eg. Shostakovich, Prokofiev, even R. Strauss!). Agreed, this type of thing is extremely rude (& I'd add ignorant).

[EDIT - seems I was wrong about the date of that Pavarotti performance, according to this video, it was in the 1960's - 



 ]...


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Sid James said:


> But I have not heard or read about a conductor being booed in a purely instrumental performance. But similar to Ravndal above, I have seen people leave, esp. during interval to avoid a 'Modern' work coming up in the second half (eg. Shostakovich, Prokofiev, even R. Strauss!). Agreed, this type of thing is extremely rude (& I'd add ignorant).


The perfect program of orchestral music:

Carter: Clarinet Concerto
*Ligeti:* Concert Romanesc
Beethoven: Symphony no. 6

By starting with music that those bloody c*nservative ******** hate at the start, even the Concert Romanesc would sound pleasing to the ears of those uncultured philistines.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

^^Reminds me of an anecdote I was reading recently, about a concert in NEw York under Zubin Mehta. The only 'modern' work on the bill was Webern's _Concerto for 9 instruments_, coming just before interval, but after some warhorse (with another warhorse after interval). Anyway, as you know it's a short piece, about 6 minutes, in three movements. But a lot of the audience where squirming, they were shuffling program notes, it was winter so they were coughing, it put them off. Not an easy work but Mehta would have none of it. He addressed them saying it was a short work, the musicians needed to be able to concentrate to play it for a start, and also asked for basic courtesy.

Anyway, not long after a letter appeared in the newspaper about this fiasco of sorts. The writer complained that they got not one, not two but THREE works in this concert by Webern! What a travesty! Even a mere 6 minutes of 'wierd' sounds is too much for these people!

But same thing happened in Sydney in the 1990's, Maestro de Waart did the _Enchanted Lake_, a very quiet piece I think by a minor Russian, Lyadov (?). Again, the audience where fidgeting and coughing, etc. They could not make a good recording for radio broadcast, if my memory serves me well.

So moral of the story is fidgeting, coughing, maybe even snoring...it's far worse than booing (maybe?). So just program what they know. & nothing, pray nothing (except Holy Minimalist rehash, maybe) from after 1900.


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## Moira (Apr 1, 2012)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> The perfect program of orchestral music:
> 
> Carter: Clarinet Concerto
> *Ligeti:* Concert Romanesc
> ...


We had the Ligeti Concert Romanesc in our recent symphony season. I fell in love with Ligeti there.


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## Guest (Jun 19, 2012)

Ravndal said:


> I was at a concert with the norwegian chamber orchestra & leif ove andsnes, and they played a lot of contemporary music. Most people walked out of there in a rush when people were clapping at the end of the concert. Always thought that was a bit rude. But i dont see why people would boo at a conductor though


Thanks, Ravndal! I wonder who is ruder, the quick exodus or faux applause? Do you think the conductor saw the mad rush? --Jacki


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## Guest (Jun 19, 2012)

Thanks, "Sir" James! So Pav wanted to give the audience a perfect performance, the audience thought they were entitled to a perfect performance ($$), what about the conductor? Is his allegiance to his orchestra or those who pay to hear him? Thanks, Jacki


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## Guest (Jun 19, 2012)

Sid James said:


> ^^Reminds me of an anecdote I was reading recently, about a concert in NEw York under Zubin Mehta. The only 'modern' work on the bill was Webern's _Concerto for 9 instruments_, coming just before interval, but after some warhorse (with another warhorse after interval). Anyway, as you know it's a short piece, about 6 minutes, in three movements. But a lot of the audience where squirming, they were shuffling program notes, it was winter so they were coughing, it put them off. Not an easy work but Mehta would have none of it. He addressed them saying it was a short work, the musicians needed to be able to concentrate to play it for a start, and also asked for basic courtesy.
> 
> Anyway, not long after a letter appeared in the newspaper about this fiasco of sorts. The writer complained that they got not one, not two but THREE works in this concert by Webern! What a travesty! Even a mere 6 minutes of 'wierd' sounds is too much for these people!
> 
> ...


Thanks hugely, "Sir" James! You gave me lots of info. to chew over. Your sympathies seem to lie with the conductor, that he doesn't have to put up with such crap even though he is being paid to do so. It seems in the anecdote that the conductor was in a way looking out for his musicians (not necessarily himself) by telling the audience to chill. Yes? But what can be done to wise-up the audience? Your reply is greatly appreciated. --Jacki


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

jacki said:


> Thanks, Ravndal! I wonder who is ruder, the quick exodus or faux applause? Do you think the conductor saw the mad rush? --Jacki


I think the conductor and the whole orchestra saw the rush. It was a 3 hour concert though, and lots of old people. So i dont know really.


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## dmg (Sep 13, 2009)

Wasn't Karajan booed when he was invited to conduct the NYPO by Bernstein? I remember this tale very vividly, but I cannot locate it on the world wide internets for some reason...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

jacki said:


> Thanks hugely, "Sir" James! You gave me lots of info. to chew over. Your sympathies seem to lie with the conductor, that he doesn't have to put up with such crap even though he is being paid to do so. It seems in the anecdote that the conductor was in a way looking out for his musicians (not necessarily himself) by telling the audience to chill. Yes? But what can be done to wise-up the audience? Your reply is greatly appreciated. --Jacki


Your welcome. I could tell you more anecdotes like that. I don't know what the antidote to rude behaviour at concerts is. This is partly the reason I largely avoid the flagship - eg. high profile - groups playing here. The audience can be very rude. Leaving before interval draws my anger, but even worse is leaving during a work being played (which happened last year with Mahler's 9th, there was a mass exodus between two of the movements, it was the Sydney Symphony Orch. under Maestro Ashkenazy, and to put icing on the cake, the EXACT date of the 100th anniversary of Mahler's death). Happy anniversary Mahler, from a bunch of people who are stuck in 1900...no, make that something like 1812...everything coming after Beethoven's middle period is cacophony.


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## Guest (Jun 20, 2012)

Thanks, dmg, I'll look it up. --Jacki


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

An incident involving the late tenor Salvatore Licitra and Riccardo Muti at La Scala 2000. Muti was booed for an interpretive decision. Read all about it at...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Licitra


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