New York Philharmonic Halted by iPhone During Mahler’s Ninth Symphony – WSJ.com
The final movement of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony is a slow rumination on mortality, with quiet sections played by strings alone.
During the New York Philharmonic’s performance Tuesday night, it was interrupted by an iPhone.
The jarring ringtone—the device’s “Marimba” sound, which simulates the mallet instrument—intruded in the middle of the movement, emanating from the first row at Avery Fisher Hall.
When the phone wasn’t immediately hushed, audience members shook their heads. It continued to chime, and music director Alan Gilbert turned his head sharply to the left, signaling his displeasure.
Minutes passed. Each time the orchestra reached a quiet section, the phone could be heard above the hushed, reverent notes.
Finally, Mr. Gilbert could take no more: He stopped the orchestra.
A Philharmonic spokeswoman said Wednesday the music director has never before halted a performance because of a cellphone or any other type of disruption.
As the offending noise continued in a loop, Mr. Gilbert turned in its direction and pointedly asked that the phone be turned off. The audience let out a collective gasp.
The ringtone—believed to be an alarm—played on.
The audience wasn’t pleased. A Wall Street Journal reporter seated in the 19th row heard jeers hurled from the balconies. One man screamed: “Enough!” Another yelled: “Throw him out!” The audience clapped and hollered in agreement—and still the tone continued to sound amid the din.
Read the rest: New York Philharmonic Halted by iPhone During Mahler’s Ninth Symphony – WSJ.com
Apparently none of Lincoln Center’s ushers heard anything unusual – the sound of the phone, the music stopping, or the in-hall commotion – to then kindly escort the patron out of the hall. Had I been an audience member sitting near a door during the phone-chiming episode, I think I would have left the hall to find an usher in the lobby and ask that he/she take action!
Via unconsumption:
For a project known as Scrapheap Orchestra, some top instrument makers in the UK transformed junk, including pieces of broken furniture, into 44 instruments for members of the BBC Concert Orchestra to play.
The quest to build an orchestra of instruments out of rubbish is more than just a musical spectacle - in the construction of these instruments we delve into the history of instrument making and the science of music, why different instruments are made the way they are, why some designs haven’t changed for hundreds of years and why, when played together, the sound of an orchestra is unlike anything else on earth. (via BBC Four)
Next week, BBC Four will broadcast a 90-minute documentary that follows the project, which features the orchestra performing Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture on the scrap instruments at the 2011 BBC Proms. (Click here for broadcast info.)
For project photos, see Gramophone’s gallery, source of the above photo of orchestra members with instruments and conductor Charles Hazlewood. (Photo credit: BBC/Chris Christodoulou)
On a similar (instruments-made-from-junk) note, check out the Unconsumption posts on San Francisco’s Junkestra and New York Philharmonic’s percussion-from-junk exploration.
Via utnereader:
Art snobs and dance fanatics, relax! People who go to museums and concerts or create art or play an instrument are more satisfied with their lives, regardless of how educated or rich they are, according to a study highlighted by Discover.
“In a world of instant musical gratification, where tunes from any genre or artist are available at the click of a mouse, can classical music remain relevant to the digital generation?”
BBC News – Is classical music doomed?
A video of the debate (between participants Stephen Fry, BBC Radio 1 DJ Kissy Sell Out, Greg Sandow, et al.) will be available on the Cambridge Union Society’s Web site.
“Could baseball have a lesson for music lovers that would allow us to appreciate the past and the present at the same time? What is behind this ability of baseball fans to connect the present action to the sport’s past glory and still appreciate the moment-to-moment excitement of the players on the field? These aren’t distinct functions of sports fandom; they are closely related to each other, and they inform each other. A fan appreciates the successes of the past more as he or she sees contemporary players working to succeed now, and vice versa. This is the kind of thinking that the institutions of classical music need to promote if we want the field refreshed by new music and musicians.”
Via poptech:
Here’s an entertaining collaboration for your viewing pleasure - cellist Yo-Yo Ma and dancer Lil Buck caught on tape by Spike Jonze. Jonze explains:
The other day, I was lucky enough to be at an event to bring the arts back into schools and got to see an amazing collaboration between Yo-Yo Ma and a young dancer in LA, Lil Buck. Someone who knows Yo-Yo Ma had seen Lil Buck on YouTube and put them together. The dancing is Lil Buck’s own creation and unlike anything I’ve seen. Hope you enjoy.
Fabulous interpretations – from both Mr. Ma and Lil Buck – of Saint-Saens’s The Swan. Love performances in intimate settings like this one.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
The move makes Philadelphia’s the first major U.S. orchestra to file for bankruptcy, say industry groups and veteran observers.
Concerts and business operations continue unfettered. In fact, orchestra leaders in the next few days expect to roll out a $160 million fund-raising campaign - their largest and riskiest ever - to save the orchestra from the worst-case scenario of liquidation.
It will be interesting to learn how the orchestra’s major asset of $140 million in endowed funds is viewed by the bankruptcy court.
See also earlier Everything Matters posts here about the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s saga.