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Date: | Thu, 21 Jan 1999 13:15:16 -0500 |
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Don Satz wrote:
>I have no difficulty agreeing with Carroll. Most audience members
>go to concerts to experience an evening of entertainment - yes, that's
>correct. They have bought the rights to a "service" which is provided by
>the conductor and other performers who have a responsibility to "give"; the
>audience simply has to "take." Sometimes me thinks that there is a notion
>swirling around that the relationship is reversed.
I could not disagree with you more. Maybe this is a generational thing
or a class thing or a cultural thing. The youngsters (I am 55 with a
teenager and hopefully more in the oven) seem to make noise and be
discourteous at movies, concerts, etc. I grew up going to Philly Orch
and Curtis Inst concerts. My parents would tell us stories of the old
days with Stokowski that would stop concerts until the millionaire donating
society dames were quiet. Children from the age of five quickly learned to
be quiet or ELSE. It is still pretty much the same at the Academy. When
I went to the Meyerhoff Center (Beautiful) I was shocked to find that the
reflective acoustics bounced a cough from the other side of the arena to
our box. I would be in favor of issuing piano wire to the ushers in order
to handle inveterate coughers. Or at least cotton socks to stuff in their
craws until they can be dragged outside. I was a heavy smoker with a cold
and I was able to keep from coughing if I had to. And I didn't even have
to cough between movements. I taught my son to behave in public by taking
to the last row of the baseball park or concert hall when he was one. He
learned quickly.
Ben Palmer
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