Rude Dane destroys Mahler’s 9th
OrchestrasA performance of Mahler’s ninth symphony last night by the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Domingo Hindoyan, suffered a couple of disruptions by elderly patrons who wandered around in confusion.
The worst, however, was reserved for last. In the closing pages of the symphony where the sound fades to nothingness,a man stood up, slowly buttoned his coat, made his way to the exit and let the door slam.
Artistic director Jesper Norden writes: ‘What the man is doing is so blatantly disrespectful that I have never in my 30 years in this industry experienced anything similar. I would like to trade that barbaric deed for 10 mindless cell phones, or 1,000 winter coughs.
‘Imagine that you can be so thoughtless, so vilely indifferent to the intimate moment of 1300 other people, with the monumental efforts of the orchestra, so indifferent to the special importance exactly last night had for everyone on stage’.
The situation was worsened by the orchestra being in mourning for a horn player who died this week of a brain tumour, aged 53. The concert was dedicated to his memory.
You can hear the disruption here at 1:41:00.
Surely the ushers are there to prevent slamming doors.
Appalling. He needs to be permanently banned from all future concerts. Despicable.
I don’t see what the fuss is about. The concert was nearly over, it was his right to leave. He shouldn’t have let the door slam but ushers should’ve caught that.
If not for the music and the musicians, how about a little respect for the hundreds of audience members who DO want to appreciate the finale of the symphony?
Yes, he bought a ticket and yes, it is his right to leave, but the manner in which he departed was crass and uncivilized.
Perhaps the gentleman just then realized that he was in full agreement with Ludwig Wittgenstein, the 20th century’s musically astute and foremost philosopher, who once observed: “If it is true that Mahler’s music is worthless, as I believe to be the case, then the question is what I think he ought to have done with his talent.” Wittgenstein also thought Mahler’s works were much too long; the “rude” gentleman may have simply had enough, even though he may have been a majority of one.
Did Wittgenstein have an opinion on bad manners?
If the patron didn’t like Mahler, why did he go to the concert?
also bad in theatres. people
have to be removed.
i dont remember this happening 70 years ago
Looking at the number of likes on this comment I’m astonished how many people on here remember what was happening at concerts 70 years ago!
I remember going to concerts 75 yrs. ago. Aida, Madame Butterfly, Billie Holiday, Jazz at the Philharmonic, The African Ballet, Dinah Washington, The L.A. Philharmonic.
Get over yourselves. You could be performing in Gaza
I wish you were.
More likely to happen in its much more civilised neighbour.
…or making irrelevant stupid comments on SD.
Sounds like standing up at 1:38.02-18, and door slamming at 1:42.03. The man may, of course, have dementia, which can have very bizarre and uncharacteristic symptoms, often indistinguishable from “rude”, “disrespectful”, “barbaric”, “thoughtless” or “indifferent” behaviour.
They invited Joe Biden to the concert?
Indeed. We all know your orange-faced friend behaves much better when he attends Mahler concerts.
The closest tRump got to a symphony orchestra was driving past Carnegie Hall the old guy very likely has a mild form of aspects of early dementia, unable suddenly to “wait” ..on sorry I need to cooment on the old guy in Demnmark don”t I ?
No I don’t think so, the gentleman in question did not repeatedly fall over before reaching the door.
Doug, where’s your politically correct? ?You know that you’re supposed to be fun between very narrow boundaries. You just forget about it you brat…
Or maybe prostate problems?
1st world problems.
What kind of a hall these days has a door that will slam? All of the halls I play in have closing mechanisms that slow the closing down and there’s rubber lining the frame so that door closing is virtually inaudible. Seems like the hall needs updating. Not to excuse rude behavior, but it would help.
Exactly and where were the Stewards? All a bit far fetched.
Horrible disrespect stupidity,, no excuse.. Mabey ushers should be stationed at the exits to prevent this stupidity..
Compulsory in Britain to have Stewards and St John Ambulance present for that volume of people.
Interesting the way the custodians of a stuggling sector talk about the very people still paying to see them.
The snap judgements rained down on this gentleman in the face of no knowledge whatsoever are distasteful to say the least.
Nonsense
What about the rest of the “very people still paying to see them”, many of whom may be questioning whether it is worth bothering to go to live concerts when some audience members are so disruptive? There are certain venues which I avoid almost completely, because I find the behaviour of a significant minority of fellow audience members intolerable and the apparent disinclination of the management to address the situation unforgivable (in particular, too many venues permit drinks in the hall and think that mobile telephones on so-called “silent” or “airplane mode” are acceptable…).
Not making excuses, but providing a possible alternative explanation of his behavior…
Let’s assume he didn’t attend the concert with the intention to be rude. With that in mind, what could be a possible explanation?
Maybe he REALLY had to go to the bathroom. Maybe he already pissed himself because he was so moved by the performance. Maybe there was some other medical issue. Maybe he got a call or message on his phone that his son was in a horrible accident.
Barring those types of explanations, it’s not a forgivable move to leave like he did .
If you know that there is a substantial risk of having to leave unexpectedly, you should book a seat in the aisle as close as possible to an exit (or ask the box office or steward if it would be possible to be reseated accordingly), and be well practised in and equipped for (i.e.: no rustly plastic bags; no noisy coats) the art of leaving as quietly and discreetly as possible.
As for the “horrible accident” scenario, a responsible audience member should never encounter this because he/she would have had his/her mobile telephone completely OFF, and therefore would have been incapable of receiving a call or message.
I totally agree with you. It’s very easy to react to situations using the emotional mind. I find it helps to balance the emotional and rational mind by meeting somewhere in the middle: wisdom/understanding/non-judgement. The behaviours in the article are in line with dementia.
Maybe he didn’t want to miss his bus home
But no need for doors to. Slam in this age and age in a concert hall and where were the stewards? Blame the management, not a bloke having to get out.
Transport issues are a regrettable problem, but perfectly predictable. If you have to leave early, leave during the applause between items in a concert or during the interval (and try to book a seat in/near an aisle near the exit so that you can leave quickly and inconspicuously).
Agree with Jan. Where were the ushers? Typically, they are supposed to be near the exits to ward off such distractions… if this isn’t typical, it should be!!!
It is possible, of course that the man is slightly deaf and believed the performance was finished. It is hard to hear pppp. And where were the ushers?
Sadly he probably isn’t hard of hearing, just rude. But then, so are many people. It is expected these days.
The right of audience members to come and go when they choose, as noisily as they like, is, no doubt, just about to be added to the CBSO’s new “vision”.
“…that barbaric deed”
“Barbarism” as experienced by Northern Europeans.
Listening to Mahler, in a heated concert hall, on a velvet cushioned seat.
Check your fucking privilege.
Why do they have a bangable door?
Any door can be made bangable if you tug at it enough.
I noticed that many people are in a hurry to leave after the concert or opera. In parts this has to do with trivial things like wanting to be the first to fetch their car from the car park. Then there are assholes who have to make everything about them. And then are the thoughtless ones who simply lack empathy. The three groups overlap. This said, I have never been to a live performance where no one coughed in the most holy moment. Also, this hasn’t changed during the last 30 years.
Mahler 9. Long work. Older guy, maybe oblivious, on diuretics, or just wanted to beat the crowd? The door probably not intended.
Unfortunate, but I don’t understand what being Danish has to with it.
Terrible. I was at the ROH Nutcracker last Saturday and no one left early. Also didn’t see any elderly demented people. Was I just lucky?