Chaos last night at the Concertgebouw

Chaos last night at the Concertgebouw

Orchestras

norman lebrecht

March 01, 2023

We have an eyewitness report of intolerable disruptions to Mahler’s 6th symphony at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Our correspondent writes:

Tonight’s Concertgebouw performance was Mahler’s sixth symphony by the Munich Philharmonic and Lorenzo Viotti (a replacement for Valery
Gergiev). Full-price tickets were €132.

Two persons sitting in the front row caused real disturbance throughout the entire concert. This included:

– Talking loudly throughout the concert
– Video recording the performance multiple minutes at a time – Taking videos of each other
– Waving their hands high in the air and in front of the faces of other concertgoers, pretending to conduct the orchestra
– Clapping along loudly when they felt like it
– Kissing each other
– Writing a love letter to Viotti on their phone (‘Dear mister dirigent’)
– Screaming (yes, actually screaming) after the first and second movements to show appreciation
– Clapping again after the third movement and after being asked by the first violins to stop
– Putting a large fur coat over the seat of another concertgoer and refusing to move it
– Vocally abusing an older lady sitting next to them who asked them to be quieter
– Vocally abusing other concertgoers at the end of the concert

Concertgebouw staff were aware of the situation and came in to speak to the men/women very quickly in the second or third movement. There was no change in behaviour and no other action by staff during the concert.

Viotti and the first violins were visibly annoyed by the entire situation, during and after the performance. The atmosphere in the
audience near the front was very tense.

We await a response from the Concertgebouw house management.

 

UPDATE: More intimate details

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