tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388014615339890178.post5625941987961207213..comments2023-05-27T07:47:26.610-05:00Comments on Bass Blog: Boo!Michael Hovnanianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822257921093170726noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388014615339890178.post-15571606327436337652008-12-26T13:38:00.000-06:002008-12-26T13:38:00.000-06:00I often dream of bursting in to the singer's dress...I often dream of bursting in to the singer's dressing room, dressed very fancy and in a slightly menacing manner and demanding to be paid off. Otherwise, I announce, I and my booing claque will boo you as you step on stage. For a fee you can avoid this embarrassment. <BR/><BR/>Then I stick out my hand, palm up.<BR/><BR/>with thanks, <BR/>PlushPlushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09915413894260815930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388014615339890178.post-56797459368629726882008-12-15T22:14:00.000-06:002008-12-15T22:14:00.000-06:00Bill, I love your term "walking ovation." We have...Bill, I love your term "walking ovation." We have those in Cincinnati, too. All these seemingly-frail audience members lurch their way into Music Hall before the concert; then, after the final chord they are imbued with miraculous strength and bolt for the exits while applauding heartily...Kyle Wernerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17461870558997384836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388014615339890178.post-28282954954103562242008-12-15T03:38:00.000-06:002008-12-15T03:38:00.000-06:00In Dallas, we have a sort of ovation at the end of...In Dallas, we have a sort of ovation at the end of many (most?) concerts wherein a sizeable chunk of the audience heads for the exits while clapping.... I have come to call this our "walking ovation".Bill in Dallashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10957676130537798859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388014615339890178.post-65012532050912776672008-12-14T22:58:00.000-06:002008-12-14T22:58:00.000-06:00Didn't he mention this in his book? If memory ser...Didn't he mention this in his book? If memory serves, upon reflection, he agreed with the man in the audience, somewhat laughingly.Bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17735545530185642433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388014615339890178.post-16303779229270017312008-12-14T20:41:00.000-06:002008-12-14T20:41:00.000-06:00Wouldn't it have been great to have been in this b...Wouldn't it have been great to have been in this business back in the days when acolytes of Wagner and Brahms were hissing each other's hero and having fistfights in the audience? If only people still cared that much!<BR/>There is a story told by the old timers in the orchestra wherein Mr. Hovnanian and I are employed about a concert conducted by a knighted former music director, now deceased, in Carnegie Hall. Sir Whatsisname apparently at this time played the "Eroica" Funeral March at a truly funereal pace--that concert may not have ended yet. The story goes that an agonized voice from the gallery started remonstrating, "Alright already (knighted former M.D.'s name), alright already! Alright already (knighted former M.D.'s name), alright already!", over and over until he was forcibly removed from the hall. As they got him into the vestibule, you could still faintly hear: "Alright already (knighted former M.D.'s name), alright already!"nocynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07998727400312237867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388014615339890178.post-16700194944521782072008-12-14T15:54:00.000-06:002008-12-14T15:54:00.000-06:00MK, I'm not sure if that's directed to me or the a...MK, I'm not sure if that's directed to me or the anonymous booer of the Lutoslawski. I can think of a number of reasons: you're a completist and go to everything on an opera company's schedule; you try to catch a new work even though it's gotten mixed reviews; there are other works on the program that you want to hear.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388014615339890178.post-17940568120247510872008-12-14T12:27:00.000-06:002008-12-14T12:27:00.000-06:00In Washington, where conformity is treasured, audi...In Washington, where conformity is treasured, audiences have come to specialize in standing ovations, irrespective of the quality of the performance. They've paid good money, turned off their Blackberries and taken 1.5 billable hours out of their day for this, so damn it, it must be good! Remaining in one's seat applauding politely nearly qualifies as a boo.Adrielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14275988872730235045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388014615339890178.post-88625732833323840212008-12-14T12:05:00.000-06:002008-12-14T12:05:00.000-06:00I'm not sure why anyone would pay money to go hear...I'm not sure why anyone would pay money to go hear a performance of a composers one dislikes so much that one would boo his work... It's not like you can't figure that out in advance...<BR/><BR/>For future reference, should you ever see me booing, for the avoidance of confusion, I reserve such expressions of displeasure for the conductor or soloist and confine the outburst to the moment when the culprit takes his/her solo bows. ;-)MKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457596451870591993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388014615339890178.post-76349952760565818172008-12-13T19:25:00.000-06:002008-12-13T19:25:00.000-06:00I join a few other bloggers in incredulity that an...I join a few other bloggers in incredulity that anyone would boo a piece by Luto...but then I love him and pretty much all 20th and 21st century music. The only piece I've been tempted to boo recently was the Prokofiev 5th. Maybe I was sitting too close - side terrace at Davies, meaning practically on top of the SFS - but jeez, what a rattly overenergized piece that is.<BR/><BR/>I am personally most likely to boo a crappy performance at the opera: a singer who should not have stepped on stage or a conductor who was asleep at the wheel. I now regret that I didn't boo Tan & Wallace at the end of <I>The Bonesetter's Daughter</I>, which is just crap.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388014615339890178.post-6652925500695800412008-12-13T17:34:00.000-06:002008-12-13T17:34:00.000-06:00On the other hand, I think audience members that p...On the other hand, I think audience members that perhaps don't particularly like a performance or the piece(s) played still want to remain respectful of the musicians on stage that they like and admire regardless of their feelings on a given night.<BR/><BR/>For example, there have been times when I expressed and discussed my displeasure or lack of understanding of aspects of a concert with friends, etc, after attending a concert given by a certain midwestern orchestra, but I wouldn't boo the performers on stage, unless I thought they were intentionally and blatantly not striving to deliver a good performance.<BR/><BR/>If I decided to boo or throw vegetables because of not liking a composer's work, how on earth would it make sense to treat the musicians on stage that way when they neither wrote the piece, nor selected it to be played? Perhaps in such an instance, it would be at least somewhat reasonable to boo the conductor, since he or she would have likely selected it and also rehearsed the ensemble to achieve the desired interpretation and musical results.<BR/><BR/>Either way, what good is it to yell "boo" unless one could actually convey the reasons for doing so? Should everyone on stage just shrug their shoulders and guess? Should they assume it's the conductor's fault, the musicians' fault, or the composer's fault? I suppose it would provide for some backstage water cooler talk, if nothing else.Bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17735545530185642433noreply@blogger.com