The matter of 'incorrect' clapping has been raised.  Perhaps I may be
allowed to enlarge on this.  As a child in the late 40s and 50s, making
my first visits to opera and listening with parents to the BBC Third
Programme, I was aware that audiences never clapped the overture at an
opera performance.

As this code of behaviour began to fade away quite a number of conductors
clearly wished to stifle the increasingly frequent applause by having the
curtain moving upwards before they had finished; sometimes singers were
already moving on the stage.  Performing the overture to an open curtain
caused enough unease that applause was sometimes prevented.

These actions always had my approval - I think applauding the overture at
an opera is unnecessary, boorish and completely ruins the atmosphere that
is being created.

Then there were the "smart-arsed" know-alls who would, nevertheless, try to
get some applause in quick to let everyone else know that they knew how and
when the overture ended!

But, today, there is much worse than that!  In opera we now have "audience
participation" as a visit to the NY Met will prove (the worst example I
know) in all opera.  Opera at the Met consists frequently of "we'll sing
a little, you clap a lot and that way we'll have a great evening." Even
if the conductor decides to ride straight into the opera from the overture
this audience will start clapping the scenery right across the music!

If you don't believe me then take, as an example, the closing of La Boheme
Act 1 where "Che gelida manina", "Si, mi chiamano Mimi", and "O soave
fanciulla" are all crazily applauded, thus totally ruining the wonderful
action on stage.

Then trip off to La Boheme at La Scala and there you'll find you could
almost hear a feather drop!

I've even heard verses of an aria applauded (where the audience didn't
know the aria well enough).  One good night I did enjoy at the Met was "I
Lombardi" - a Pavarotti evening although I was there for the work (never
seen it before); the audience didn't think it knew the work well enough
and so, thank goodness, remained fairly quiet.

I once asked Peter Gelb why he couldn't at least attempt to silence the Met
audience when they are filming and he replied that it would be impossible
which makes watching Met videos really very tiresome indeed.

And today, at Bayreuth, after over 100 years of performances they have even
started to applaud the first act of Parsifal!  Shameful!  There's no way
back.  It can only get worse.

John G. Deacon
Home page: http://www.ctv.es/USERS/j.deacon
PIPEDOWN - Campaign Against Piped Music http://www.btinternet.com/~pipedown