Topic: Standing Ovations In America: Everybody Gets One!

[Harry Collier]

it's generally difficult to perform in front of an live audience, so why not show some encouragement?

I'm all for giving some applause after a performance: polite applause, enthusiastic applause, etc. But when people stand up in front of you, they block your view of the artists on the platform, and this is most unfriendly and thoughtless towards others.

[quintett op.57]

I remember a good performance in Warsaw :
The public started an ovation, but there was obviously 2 bad reasons (in my opinion) : The violonist ostentatiously didn't read the score and they played one of Brahms'hungarian dances. (I was disappointed the public preferred it to the Kreutzer sonata)

The public in Paris is more severe. (which does not mean 'severe but fair')
The last two standing-Os in the recent concerts I went to : Thielemann / WP and Rostropovich / Orchestre de Paris (Rostro's charisma was obviously the main reason, even if the performance was really great in my opinion)

[Cato]

The public in Paris is more severe. (which does not mean 'severe but fair')
The last two standing-Os in the recent concerts I went to : Thielemann / WP and Rostropovich / Orchestre de Paris (Rostro's charisma was obviously the main reason, even if the performance was really great in my opinion)

What was played at the concerts?

[longears]

I stand when it's merited.  My wife and I recently heard a splendid performance of Sibelius's fifth by the Pittsburgh under Andrew Davis.  We and perhaps two dozen others scattered among the crowd stood and applauded enthusiastically.  I think the mostly subscription audience was perplexed by the music, for they usually stand for even mediocre performances of warhorses.  The same audience was on its feet in a heartbeat for the competent but not particularly special Schumann PC which preceded the Sibelius.

[Cato]

I stand when it's merited.  My wife and I recently heard a splendid performance of Sibelius's fifth by the Pittsburgh under Andrew Davis.  We and perhaps two dozen others scattered among the crowd stood and applauded enthusiastically.  I think the mostly subscription audience was perplexed by the music, for they usually stand for even mediocre performances of warhorses.  The same audience was on its feet in a heartbeat for the competent but not particularly special Schumann PC which preceded the Sibelius.

(My emphasis above)

You can therefore verify the spread of standing ovations to Heinz Hall, as opposed to Huntz Hall, who never got a stand ovation!   

Interesting: you believe people will give a standing ovation to the composition and not necessarily to the performance.  So a slamdunk performance of a brand-new work by living Composer X will still be trumped by your average Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto #1.

And Pittsburgh is perplexed by the Sibelius Fifth!   Sounds like we could start a new topic with that one!

[Siedler]

Here in Finland standing ovations are very rare, I have only seen one. It was last fall in Finnish National Opera, premiere, Karita Mattila's debut, of Tosca. Only part of the audience in stalls (including me and my mom) stood up but later the rest followed us. This was later criticized on newspapers as one jerk wrote how the audience was uncivilied and "Americanized" since they stood up after Mattila's Tosca.