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In Reply to: In my experience... posted by Jim Treanor on April 2, 2007 at 18:34:44:
I will narrow my comments to reflect my personal experiences in the San Francisco Bay Area, where many believe we march to a different drummer:I have found in a couple of hundred concerts that the polite applause or even a hearty applause is expected at the end of a performance even if the performance is merely OK. You get a "clap for effort".
However, if the audience outwardly expresses its approval between movements (some may consider that uncouth) and then later leaps to its collective feet in a thunderous applause at the conclusion and/or demands a curtain call from the conductor and/or soloist, after which they are abuzz with compliments during intermission or on their way to the parking lot or metro at the concerts conclusion, this is easily distinguishable from the "polite" applause. In my experience this is more heartfelt and is separate and apart from the "obligatory" applause that you describe as the norm.
Do audiences sometimes follow the lead of a few in front of them or the majority? Absolutely! It happen at Mass just yesterday when the priest gave one of his better homily's and and you could "feel" that that many of the parishoners wanted to applaud but it just not "usually done". But after a jump start from a few a heartfelt applause was followed.
Robert C. Lang
Follow Ups:
occurred in the Bay Area.
I certainly take issue with your characterization of Bay Area audiences of which I am regularly apart. With all due respect I believe that it has been a while since you regularly attended concerts in the San Francisco Bay Area. Based on your description of what you view as the norm here I would say it’s probably been many years, perhaps during a more conservative time; 25 years ago perhaps or longer!Don’t get me wrong; there can be and there is a certain degree of “lemming” mentality, but this mostly stems from politeness among audiences in response to performances here as elsewhere. But those *same* audiences at the *same* concert will, if the performance rises to a sufficiently high level, show the performers there just due and respect with an enthusiastic and heartfelt applause in appreciation for their hard work that is easily distinguishable from the routinely robotic applauses that you may have experienced in the past.
By the way, I have only attended 2 opera performances in the Bay Area and only a few ballet performances. Audience reactions and culture may be quite different at those performances.
and I wouldn't characterize it as a norm, but rather something I've observed on a number of occasions--and not just a quarter of a century ago. While it's true that I quit attending Bay Area subscription concerts and other musical events regularly when I moved north 16 years ago, I've been back frequently to visit family and friends and taken the opportunity to attend a number of concerts there, most recently a little under two years ago (when I also availed myself of the opportunity to make a pig of myself at both Skates and Fat Apple's). And your own observation that what you considered a journeyman (and much more recent) performance of Scheherezade evoked a thunderous ovation suggests that things haven't changed that much since.
You said:****And your own observation that what you considered a journeyman (and much more recent) performance of Scheherezade evoked a thunderous ovation suggests that things haven't changed that much since.***
"Thunderous ovation" is far overstated on your part and I did not say that. I said that much of audience gave a "heartfelt standing ovation". That is several notches down, I'd say, from the "thunderous" ovation that the audience gave the Philadelphia Orchestra at the conclusion of the recently released Saint-Saens on the Ondine label. The ovation from that audience, of which I was part, for "Sheherazade", I believe, was completely in line with the great effort put out by the orchestra that evening. Also, that same audience gave differing reactions to other parts of the program that same evening.
Importantly, I also said that I would not have an opportunity to listen to any recording of the "Sheherazade" performance. Repeated listens can change how you feel about a performance. The audience in a live setting doesn’t have that luxury. They make their judgment on the spot. (Which by the way, was the initial point I was making). The audience can judge harshly, lightly or anywhere in between. And frequently reactions are mixed! It's up to the audience whether you or I disagree. That't why it does not make a difference what *I* thought about the performance. I could be wrong and the audience could be right. But in this case I thoroughly enjoyed the performance which I wish I could bottle up and bring home.
There are classical performances in many parts of the Bay Area including Marin, Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. I can tell you that the audiences in these locations have their own "sub culture" so to speak. You can see this in the way they dress, you can see it in the way they react to performances *and* you can see the way audiences have changed over time, certainly during the sixteen years that you moved north. For example, it was definitely an unwritten rule against applauding between movements. That has slowly changed to the point that a fleeting smattering of light applause is occasionally heard if audience members are so moved, but is more likely to happen in Berkeley or Oakland than in San Francisco. And San Francisco varies depending on whether it’s a matinee or evening performance. Plus the program matters.
You were a 800 miles away on the night of the performance. You are simply in no position to judge the merits of the audience’s reaction or its sophistication (which you seem to be questioning) with respect to the performance *or* to what other external factors that may have influenced their reaction that evening.
Again I find your characterization of Bay Area audiences of which I am regularly apart, and which is multifarious, if nothing else, to be inaccurate, broad brushed, perhaps more reflective of what may have occurred 25 years ago.
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