Audience member gets called up to play Prokofiev
OrchestrasHere’s what happened to Scott Deal, a professor of music technology, when he went to hear the Indianapolis Symphony.
My wife and I were at the Indianapolis Symphony enjoying the opening of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture when my (on silent) cell phone buzzed me. It was a message from the manager of the ISO asking if I would be willing to play in the second half, which would be Prokofiev’s 5th Symphony.
Clara and I were to be dining with ISO timpanist Jack Brennan and his wife after the concert, so they knew I was in the audience. A percussionist had been involved in a car accident on his way to the concert, and they needed somebody to fill in. I told them that while I play a lot of music, I never played Prokofiev 5, and the last time I played under a conductor was 17 years ago.
They said they understood…so I said yes, much to my great terror. They found me an oversized black suit, we used intermission to go through the score, and away we went. What a wild ride it was. I love the ISO and have been a season ticket holder for years, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine sight reading an entire symphony with them before a public audience! The percussion section was great, and so helpful. I will never forget last night!
Watch here.
Mobile telephones should be completely OFF during the concert. The “buzz” of a telephone on so-called “silent” is very disturbing to fellow audience members (as is the glare of screens of audience members who use their devices during the concert). Shame on Prof. Deal, who, as a subscriber, should assuredly have known better!
And could the management not have sent an usher to Prof. Deal’s seat to communicate the last-minute fixing request straight after the overture?
Lighten Up, Francis.
Exactly!
Psst. SVM? It’s over. Nothing happened. It all worked. Chill.
How do you know that “Nothing happened”? For all you or I know, the buzzing of the telephone (and glare of the screen when the messages were being read) might have caused disturbance to performers and/or other audience members, but that nothing was said or done at the time because it is very tricky (even for uniformed ushers) to deal with such disturbance — unless you are sitting extremely close to the source, it is almost impossible to pinpoint it, let alone get rid of it, without creating more disturbance in the process. Sometimes, if the offender can be identified, a stern glare, a light tap on the shoulder, or grabbing the mobile telephone and pushing it downwards will do the trick… but it takes some virtuosity and luck (i.e.: being seated in a suitable position relative to the offender) to be able to do this completely silently and without causing further disturbance. Consequently, many offenders go unpunished and even oblivious to the damage they are perpetrating against the concert experience.
For that reason, it is imperative to insist as a matter of principle that mobile telephones are always OFF during the performance (personally, I remove the battery from mine and put it in a pocket I can pat, thus enabling me to reassure myself that my telephone is definitely off). Many concertgoers incur significant time and expense (often, the length of time required to travel to and from the venue is greater than the length of the music itself) to experience live music in an environment where all distraction is to be kept to the minimum humanly possible. In an increasingly noisy and distracting society, the concert experience is all the more precious, and must be guarded jealously against the incursion of mobile telephones and other distractions.
Get a grip on you – calm down and use Oropax!
Yet another Slippedisc comments thread derailed from the actual subject, which is: how a drummer guy in the audience bravely, and with good humour, stepped in on an “emergency” basis to help his hometown orchestra.
Another “Exactly!”
Is thia true? I don’t know modern mobile that has a separate battery. Plus we are adult enough to have our mobiles on silent eg without the vibration
This is why classical music is dying – thanks to these stuffy people
Yawn….. yawn. It’s not ‘dying’ we know that, because it can’t die. As long as there is music, there is always classical music by definition, I.e. because it is always a distillation if the best music of any era. It’s not the same as pop, a commercial product that gives pleasure for a while then drops away ( apart from for a few eternal adolescent saddoes).
Put a fermata on it.
Management would probably not have known which seat he was occupying…
Totally agree SVM. Only an idiot would disagree, or someone who has never found themselves next to some moron taking and sending messages during a concert, opera or play. Are we so primitive that we can’t manage without the things for an hour or two?
OK, Debbie Downer.
So your argument is that an usher moving through the aisle to audibly talk to a guest (who could very well be in the middle of the row) is less disruptive than a cell phone “buzz”?
You can have your phone on silent and it not buzz. Most people do these days. I do as I play in orchestras all day long for a living and if it buzzed or vibrated I’d be in trouble. Don’t assume!
This old drummer says “bravo.” Do we know which percussion part he played? (I’m jealous.)
Wow, great story! I wonder if he got to play the tam-tam?
I wonder if he got paid!
The orchestra’s contract with players surely requires all extra musicians to be paid. This is standard in the US.
Yeah! Whoever played it for Karajan on his mid-60s LP is my all-time percussion hero. If you haven’t heard that recording (and massive kudos to the DG engineers too), you haven’t lived!
The entire conversation with him – whether by texting or in person – should have been done after the overture, not during it. Buzzing phones and/or using them in any manner while a piece is being performed is definitely disturbing to audience members who are seated nearby.
Luckily for him and the orchestra he had his phone on “mute” – – and wasn’t named SVM^^
Kudos to the man who was able to help the orchestra perform this arguably the finest and most powerful of Prokofiev’s symphonies, but I fully agree with SVM: phones must be completely off while classical music is being performed because buzzing and visible screens are extremely distracting to listeners who are seated in the vicinity. The orchestra’s management could and should have contacted him in person after the overture.
No mention anywhere how insanely demanding the entire percussion section is in the Prokofiev 5. One wrong entry and you and the whole orchestra are in trouble. What instrument(s) did he have to cover? Let’s not quibble about cell phone etiquette. The guy is a hero. Let’s leave it at that.