Rattle’s rant, LA Phil’s Big O and other concert no-nos

We have heard from a number of people who left the Barbican Hall before Sir Simon Rattle delivered his attack on orchestral cuts by Arts Council England and the BBC. The early-leavers agreed fully with what Rattle had to say. They just found it wrong that a conductor should use his privileged platform to issue a political manifesto. They had come to hear Mahler’s 7th, not Rattle’s rant.

In similar vein, concertgoers have responded equivocally to the woman who experienced – or faked – an orgasm during Tchaikovsky’s fifth symphony at Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles. Manifestations of approval in a symphonic concert include clapping and cheering at the conclusion of the performance. Other cries of relief, no matter how spontaneous, should be reserved for a personal space.

Here endeth the lesson.