# A brawl in the concert hall



## Weird Heather

I stumbled across this article today, and this forum seemed like a good place to post it (and I was a little surprised that somebody didn't beat me to it). I always find it annoying when people rustle candy wrappers during concerts, especially during the quiet moments. It seems that a man at a concert in Sweden decided to do something about it, and a minor brawl resulted. At least they had the good sense to wait for the performance to finish before starting their brawl.

https://www.thelocal.se/20181017/fist-fight-breaks-during-mahlers-fifth-in-malmo

I've never witnessed anything like this, although, like probably everyone here, I've heard about certain famous incidents, such as the riot at the premiere of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring."

Concert hall etiquette can be a bit of a sore point. I'm on the side of those who want the audience to be as quiet as possible so that I can pay full attention to the performance. Given the acoustics of the concert halls, even a slight noise can reverberate throughout the hall and disturb everyone. I'm so accustomed to this that I find it difficult to attend concerts of other genres of music where a much greater level of audience noise is expected. The flip side of this is that the strict etiquette of classical concerts can seem too rigid and unwelcoming to new audiences.


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## Albert Berry

Your link is broken.


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## Weird Heather

It's fixed. Sorry - I forgot to test it before posting.


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## Josquin13

Haven't there been regular confrontations at pianist Krystian Zimerman's concerts? Didn't he once stop playing in order to yell at an audience member who was filming the concert on their iPhone?

I suppose Zimerman was still upset with US customs, who had dismantled and destroyed his Steinway grand at JFK airport after 9/11, suspecting that he was a terrorist. Evidently, they thought the piano glue smelled suspicious.

I whole heartedly sympathize with the man that grabbed the woman's bag of gum and threw it to the floor. I've wanted to do that many times, but didn't have the courage. I'm not usually a confrontational or violent person, though there have been times when I wished I had brought a Taser electroshock weapon to a concert.

I never had this problem when I lived in Philadelphia. One of the regular subscribers that sat nearby me at the Academy of Music was a known Mafioso, who apparently liked Riccardo Muti's conducting. If someone made a loud ruckus during the concert, we never saw them again. By the end of the series, there were quite a few empty seats around me. It was a particularly bad winter that year.


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## DavidA

There are sadly people who have no manners at all. They unwrap sweets or whisper during the performance. Mind you, I must confess I went to a recital and half way through it I remembered I hadn't;'t switched my phone off. I was seating till the movement finished and then quickly turned off the sound. Thankfully it hadn't gone off!


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## KenOC

This story has been picked up by Fox. I guess they think the Democrats are rioting!

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainme...ent-attack-during-mahlers-5th-symphony-report


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## SixFootScowl

Could have been worse. At least nobody was thrown off the balcony.


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## Guest

One thing that annoys me at a concert is when people start coughing, Why oh why do the come to a concert to cough all the way through, then between movements , there is a cacophony of coughing! So that is what put me off concert going.


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## Roger Knox

Back in the 1970's pianist Anton Kuerti stopped playing and lectured the audience about smoking after someone started coughing. He was a principled man ahead of his time: now we have smoke-free buildings. Kuerti also insisted the air-conditioning be turned off during concerts, but in a world getting warmer I don't know if that would fly now.


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## Albert Berry

The last concert my wife and I attended in Chicago we were seated next to a cougher. His wife was less than impressed and sent him out at intermission. The second half was much more enjoyable.


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## perempe

in September I attended a free concert in downtown Miskolc. I sat on stairs and gave some of my place to a woman in her 60s or 70s. she talked to family members (?) during the pieces instead of the pauses. I pushed her slowly with my elbow. (did not hit her.) her talk from half meter ruined the concert for me while young children were listening to the orchestra quietly.

I was unlucky to sit next to her.


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## rodrigaj

I live in a city with a major university. Young people have certain expectations, one of which is the right to use their phones for texting, checking FB, email, etc. whenever and wherever they want. 

I have had so many movies, concerts and plays ruined by this behavior, that I simply have stopped attending. 

Announcements prior to performances do little to curtail the use of phones. Polite complaints worked for awhile, but now there are so many doing this that the effort seems fruitless.

It is a different world out there, and maybe we need to accommodate this behavior. It doesn't bother my wife but I find it distracting to the point where I can no longer attend concerts, movies, and plays.


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## Guest

KenOC said:


> This story has been picked up by Fox. I guess they think the Democrats are rioting!
> 
> https://www.foxnews.com/entertainme...ent-attack-during-mahlers-5th-symphony-report


Is that a ploy to get us to visit Fox "News"?


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## Albert Berry

rodrigaj said:


> I live in a city with a major university. Young people have certain expectations, one of which is the right to use their phones for texting, checking FB, email, etc. whenever and wherever they want.
> 
> I have had so many movies, concerts and plays ruined by this behavior, that I simply have stopped attending.
> 
> Announcements prior to performances do little to curtail the use of phones. Polite complaints worked for awhile, but now there are so many doing this that the effort seems fruitless.
> 
> It is a different world out there, and maybe we need to accommodate this behavior. It doesn't bother my wife but I find it distracting to the point where I can no longer attend concerts, movies, and plays.


My favorite restaurants in Chicago confiscated the phones at the door. I wish more places would do that. I am on call, and cannot turn off my phone, but I can put it on vibrate only, and check it later. Everyone knows my reply may be delayed up to one hour, even for a text. I have turned on the "I am driving" app as well. No distracted driving fines for me, thanks very much. Also no distracted driving accidents where I am the cause.


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## rodrigaj

Albert Berry said:


> My favorite restaurants in Chicago confiscated the phones at the door. I wish more places would do that. I am on call, and cannot turn off my phone, but I can put it on vibrate only, and check it later. Everyone knows my reply may be delayed up to one hour, even for a text. I have turned on the "I am driving" app as well. No distracted driving fines for me, thanks very much. Also no distracted driving accidents where I am the cause.


Wish that everyone were as considerate as you.

I don't own a smartphone and I don't want a smartphone. I find myself living in an alternate universe these days.

With Thanksgiving coming up, I dread the thought of watching the 12 people my wife has invited. Slowly they begin to pull out their smartphones, with seemingly innocuous reasons: "Look at this picture of ...". The phones are never put away after the picture is shown. Pretty soon we have 12 people sneaking glances at their phones, texting, swiping, etc... Conversation becomes monosyllabic and meaningless.

I absolutely dread it.


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## regnaDkciN

A brawl during a concert? I'm amazed...judging from that article, there is no indication John Eliot Gardiner was present!


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## Open Book

rodrigaj said:


> I live in a city with a major university. Young people have certain expectations, one of which is the right to use their phones for texting, checking FB, email, etc. whenever and wherever they want.
> 
> I have had so many movies, concerts and plays ruined by this behavior, that I simply have stopped attending.
> 
> Announcements prior to performances do little to curtail the use of phones. Polite complaints worked for awhile, but now there are so many doing this that the effort seems fruitless.
> 
> It is a different world out there, and maybe we need to accommodate this behavior. It doesn't bother my wife but I find it distracting to the point where I can no longer attend concerts, movies, and plays.


I disagree that we should accommodate this behavior, we should tighten it, punish offenders by barring them from future events for a while. But it's not up to people my age, is it? The etiquette for phone use will be decided by the generation that can't be pried from their phones.

It isn't just young people. During a dance recital an old man (maybe on the cusp of dementia) next to me answered his cell phone and talked loudly to his wife. When I told him later how inappropriate this was he responded, "What if it had been an emergency?" Well, what if all 200 audience members felt at liberty to talk on their phones?

I'm with you, I dread attending events, too, because of audience-caused distractions. I admit I'm probably more sensitive to things like this than most people. It doesn't have to be a phone that offends. There are people who read their programs along with the music and they rattle the paper as they do so. One woman in front of me kept opening and closing her program during a string quartet recital with a crisp rattle each time.

The trouble is that this behavior can't really be stopped during the concert or event without causing an even bigger disturbance.


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## Don Fatale

One of my functions in life, it seems, is to be the guy that must 'shush' people at concerts, even though there are many people nearer to the offender than me. 

I've had a couple of occasions where the 'victim' (as the noise maker/phone user now feels) starts to have words with me after the concert. Needless to say I relish such an opportunity knowing how outnumbered this person is.

On the positive side, I particularly liked when my action emboldens others become part of the solution. Also good is when the shoulder-tapped offender is so mortally offended that they feel they have to leave immediately.

I feel that for certain concerts (i.e. when the audience isn't so well trained) somebody needs to be on stage beforehand giving the riot act. A recorded voice announcement counts for nothing.

I've never actually seen a brawl in a concert hall. Sounds fun


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## StrE3ss

See this brawl in a documentary :
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/17/arts/playing-of-wagner-in-israel-provokes-disturbance.html


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