When the Chicago Symphony got undressed in the street

From a reminiscence by Chicago psychologist Dr Gerald Stein:

… The (1972) tour occurred before player contracts guaranteed proper dressing rooms, comfortable hotel lodging, and the kinds of auditoriums that made the group shine.

Jadwin Gymnasium, the program’s site in Princeton, offered no adequate facilities to allow the entire band to change clothes in private.

The ensemble found itself in street clothing in the back of a partition, separating them from the area in front of the screen where they would perform. Presumably, the barrier was also intended to reflect some of the sound produced by Solti and Company toward the patrons sitting on bleachers forward of the ground-level stage.

Matters worsened when the CSO members realized incoming spectators witnessed them removing their regular attire and donning the formal wear retrieved from the nearby wardrobe trunks. Indeed, those ticket buyers occupying the top of the audience risers on the screen’s opposite side saw over the partition. They received more of a show than they paid for.

You would think that was bad enough, but it wasn’t.

The program began with Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture. The Mahler followed. During its second or third movement, the gymnasium’s cooling system started, sounding out at full blast.

At the movement’s end, Solti walked off the podium with a sharp “click, click, click” from his shoes against Jadwin’s floor. The headman appeared more than angry when talking with nearby facility personnel.

It was clear he did not intend to do battle with the giant fans murdering his effort, Mahler’s composition, and the Chicago Symphony’s art….

What happened next? Read on here.