...is this good or bad for classical music

[relm1]

Though keeping in mind that the people who visit this forum are hard core concert music lovers, I'm curious what the general thought about this is:

(Haydn killed by cell phone)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAaU8yPXA1A

Would you deem this attitude and behavior appropriate (music is special and should be regarded that way) or is this bad (classical music can be elitist and that is why audiences are turned off by the piety or pretentiousness)?  Thoughts?

[Brian]

Completely appropriate, but that's because it's not exclusive to classical music. If someone's cell phone rings when I talk to them, I stop talking.

[Karl Henning]

I don't get why going to hear a group of musicians, who have taken time to prepare a program, to play it to the best of their abilities, and wanting to focus attention on the performance, is supposedly piety.

I should have called that courtesy.

[relm1]

I don't get why going to hear a group of musicians, who have taken time to prepare a program, to play it to the best of their abilities, and wanting to focus attention on the performance, is supposedly piety.

I should have called that courtesy.

I definitely agree, I just wonder if this also undermines the continued prosperity of live concert music.  Would you agree that cell phones are in a different category than other annoying disruptions to the music experience (like baby crying or the guy who only chooses the quiet moments to clear his throat)? 

Sort of a counter view: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-05-29/entertainment/ct-ent-0529-applause-during-performance-20120529_1_clap-classical-music-cso

[Sammy]

I definitely agree, I just wonder if this also undermines the continued prosperity of live concert music.  Would you agree that cell phones are in a different category than other annoying disruptions to the music experience (like baby crying or the guy who only chooses the quiet moments to clear his throat)? 

No.  Extraneous noise that interferes with a performance is bad.

[AnthonyAthletic]

4' 33" & cell phones = acceptable.

Even so, no two performances would be the same.

[Karl Henning]

No.  Extraneous noise that interferes with a performance is bad.

4' 33" & cell phones = acceptable.

For indeed, that were extraneous noise which is part of the music, and no interference.

[DavidW]

Movie theatres ask them to be turned off before the movie starts and this is the same sort of thing. People travel to a venue, buy tickets, pick seats .. to watch a show; no one wants the experience to be disrupted by cell phones.

Yes.  My theater also blocks the signal starting when they say turn off your cell phones.  Concert halls might want to consider doing the same thing.

[not edward]

Just for the sake of things, I've experienced two particularly absurd cases of extraneous noise during performances that far outdo any cellphone hell.

1. A couple of old ladies eating sandwiches in the seats in front of me while Pierre-Laurent Aimard was playing Ligeti etudes in Glasgow.
2. Some couple letting their five (or so)-year-old kid run around the Queens Hall in Edinburgh (at least, until they were ejected during a gap between movements).

[Cato]

I don't get why going to hear a group of musicians, who have taken time to prepare a program, to play it to the best of their abilities, and wanting to focus attention on the performance, is supposedly piety.

I should have called that courtesy.

Amen!

Only in a kulcher saturated with the most adipose selfishness could those two words be confused!

[Dancing Divertimentian]

It was probably a HIPster phoning in objecting to the large orchestra and Steinway piano.

[DavidW]

It was probably a HIPster phoning in objecting to the large orchestra and Steinway piano.

Ha!

[jochanaan]

I don't get why going to hear a group of musicians, who have taken time to prepare a program, to play it to the best of their abilities, and wanting to focus attention on the performance, is supposedly piety.

I should have called that courtesy.

You've got the Amen Corner going, Karl! Yes, whether in a theater (live or cinematic), a church service, or a concert hall, it's only courtesy to silence our ringers.  (Unless they're handbell ringers. )