Janos Gereben writes:

>...After four rounds of thunderous standing ovation, Rattle whispered
>into the ear of concertmaster Guy Braunstein whereupon the musicians
>stood up, shook hands all around, and departed.  I was trying to remember
>if that's a "European way" of ending a concert, but couldn't recall,
>especially about the handshakes....

Not in my experience.  It may have been a new play that Rattle chalked
up on the board for them before taking off for the States, or just before
this performance.  The usual protocol has the conductor shake the concert
master's hand after the first bow.  Coming on again, in answer to enduring
applause, he then may single out, with the wave of the hand, a solo
player or section; then the whole band (which he probably already did
before); then maybe give the house an encore; then accord the applause
to the whole band; then bow deeply and walk off while instructing the
concert master, in passing and sotto voce, to wrap up the show.Maybe
this time around the Berliners were keyed up to be sure to excel in the
music capital of a nation estraged by the Iraq thing.  When they were
shown to have succeeded they then might have been moved to do the Berlin
version of the highfive.

Denis Fodor