I suppose this is as dignified of a way as any to start off my third year of blog posts:
My college orchestra director once told us about the irritation his college orchestra conductor showed with a concert audience. The orchestra was performing a piece with a false ending. Instead of looking to see if the conductor's hands were still up, some audience members jumped the gun by applauding too early. The conductor chastised them during the piece's few remaining measures. While conducting the few remaining bars, he said out loud, in time to the music, "Stupid bastards!"
According to our director, many of the musicians were unable to finish the piece because they were laughing so hard. As our rehearsal ended that evening, it occurred to me that you rarely see that sort of hat trick in concert. How often, during a concert, do you see such an honest display of humanity by the audience, the musicians, and the conductor?
