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Some strange people go to classical concerts

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norman lebrecht

December 15, 2015

From a reader’s comment to a Washington Post review of a horn trio recital at the Library of Congress:

… in the first movement of the Brahms, I thought I heard a woman a few rows in front of me in the first row make some noise, and then I realized she was either laughing or making a crying noise. Soon after that, she spit on the floor, and also tore at a page in the program; this was alarming.

Pretty soon after that, the woman approached the edge of the stage and placed a shoe there, and after returning to her seat, possibly went back up to it to more carefully position it. Then once the 1st movement ended, she quietly said something like “that’s to catch all the [3 or 4 letter word for semen]”. I was stunned and frozen for the next 20+ minutes; she went back to the stage a few more times to place and reposition a jacket or something by the shoe. The trio did a great job ignoring whatever they saw or heard. Hopefully she was photographed and banned after the end. Did anyone else see or hear something I didn’t describe…?

The performers were Eric Ruske, Gloria Chien and Jennifer Frautschi.

UPDATE: Jennifer Frautschi adds:

This woman was conducting her shenanigans on the edge of the stage behind me, and since Gloria and I both had our backs to her we had no idea any of this was going on during the concert. Eric could see her walking back and forth, as he was facing her, but he ignored her completely. We did all heard her very audible comment between movements. Apparently her movements to and from the stage were evident to everyone in the auditorium. Although it was bizarre, all of us are accustomed to all sorts of funny and strange things happening during concerts. Never a dull moment in a live performance!