Janos Gereben:

>You may have better luck; I never heard a live performance of the Ninth
>without audience noise ruining the finale.  It's simply impossible to
>filter out the coughs and the multiplicity of sound around you as the
>Adagio (after 90 minutes of preparation for this moment) dissolves into
>silence.

I strongly sympathise with Janos's frustration.  Involuntary coughing
is unfortunate but inevitable, but I'm convinced that in most cases, it's
possible to suppress it until the end of a movement or until a forte
(although, I'll grant you, a touch difficult to achieve in this case).
I've battled to keep a cough under control in deference to the music and
the audience.  Of course, a percentage of the audience is not there because
they have the remotest interest in the music, and the coughing is an outlet
for boredom or worse, an expression of ignorance.  As long as they've
bought their tickets and supported the event in that way, they'd be doing
everyone a favour by spending the evening in a bar, watching television or
playing their old Beach Boys LPs.

I was once silly enough, after an experience similar to Janos's, to write
to the local paper in similar terms to the last paragraph.  I still think
it was the right thing to do, but there are some people who haven't spoken
to me since.  Pretentiousness can do that.

Richard Pennycuick
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