Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Haydn killed by a cell phone

On the subject on cell phones interrupting concerts, here is live footage of Christian Zacharias stopping in the middle of a piece due to an extremly obnoxious ringtone.

http://www.gsoplay.se/en/video/haydn-killed-cell-phone

It's just sad really, when you think about all the preperation a musician goes through to polish their playing, and it is ruined because one person in the audience is too dumb to turn their phone off.

Ever seen this?

Cell phone users are the new smokers. Don't they realize it's all a bunch of inconsequential twaddle...???

Nobody wants to hear about your colonoscopy, your husband's younger girlfriends, what you had for dinner last night, what your idiot child said, etc. etc. Put a lid on it, ferhevvinssake...

The world will thank you.

I like Buggs' direct approach.

The show must go on. No one would do this for a crying baby. No one [should] do this if they make a huge mistake. You push through it. Never stop.

It's not like there was an obnoxious drunk in the crowd who was genuinely a problem. That was just a little cell phone ringer -- hardly audible until he actually stopped playing.

I agree. For heaven's sake - I have acute panic disorder and managed to "perform" in public as a teacher and public speaker. Disruptions, diversions and disrespect are part of any public show. Choosing to stand up comes without an option to stop. One exception: you just plain faint away from nerves. Other than that the show goes on.

I gotta be honest -- when I first read the title of this thread, my initial thought was that a time traveler had dropped their cell phone from a high place and had struck Haydn in the head, killing him.

^when I saw this thread, i had a moment of stupidity and thought that newly found evidence showed that it was Haydn's cell phone that lead to his death. Forgot cell phones weren't invented yet

It is also considered rude to bring an infant to a concert/recital. Babysitters were invented long ago and churches even have "crying rooms."

Cell phones I'm not sure about what's appropriate but I have never been to a concert where someone even brought a baby. In a normal concert venue I doubt they'd even allow one in.

If the performer makes a mistake that's in an entirely different category than someone else causing the disruption.

I have to agree with Zacharias on this issue. But first, one doesn't bring an infant to a formal concert, so being interrupted by an infant crying should not be part of the argument.

Secondly, not only did the cell phone ring at a quiet moment in the concerto, the cell phone owner didn't turn the cell phone off, but just let it ring on.

Cell phones and concert etiquette have existed together long enough that people should know that their devices must be turned off in a concert. That occurrence has to be the height of ignorance.

I'd have probably gone nuts. I think people that interrupt concerts (or movies) with their cell phones ought to be put in stocks for a couple of days with the ringtone playing continuously in their ear.

I agree. And don't forget the disrespect to all the concert goers who go to the concert to enjoy lovely live music. To me the biggest thing is that the phone went off not once, but twice!

Mikhail Pletnev once played all the way through Beethoven's Waldstein when the venue's fire alarm went off, without batting an eyelid. Because he stayed put and kept playing, and no official came in to shout 'Fire!', everyone stayed in their seats.

And the whole concert was recorded by the BBC for future broadcast. I was looking forward very much to hear the Waldstein accompanied by the fire alarm (or should that be the fire alarm accompanied by Beethoven?) when the concert was eventually broadcast, but the announcer instead explained what happened and said that he was going to substitute Pletnev's CD recording of it in its place instead. What a spoilsport....

I think the audience has a responsibility to be quiet during classical concerts. It's not that hard to be quiet for an hour. What would the audience say if the pianist was coughing in the middle of a solo? Have you ever seen that happen? No. Because the pianist knows how to hold it in.

Here is my view on noise from the audience from a real life example: I had tickets to Martha Argerich playing the Ravel G major Concerto some years back, but unluckily I got a persistent cough on the same day. I stuffed myself full of nose-spray and cough drops, got dressed up and went to the concert anyway hoping to keep it together. As the audience was settling in and the orchestra tuning up, the cough came back, and I knew I couldn't suppress it. At this point, I had two options: stay and ruin the performance for everybody, or give up the expensive ticket and go home.

Naturally I did the latter. I have zero tolerance even towards myself

I almost have to wonder if these two points are related - it was so obvious the offender should have silenced their phone that when it started ringing they were too embarrassed to reach for it and turn it off, which would have revealed they were the one who had committed the social faux pas!

What Pletnev did could have endangered many people. He should have stopped until it was determined that it was a false alarm and resume after the alarm had been silenced. It is hardly a situation where the Waldstein is of the most importance.

The thing is, that concert goer, if has any respect for the performers and the rest of the audience, should have turned off his/her phone before the concert started. It's basic manner, like you don't show other people what you are chewing on dinner table.

The reason why you didn't hear it clearly enough is because of the microphone settings. Most of those are pointing toward the piano/instruments, instead of the audience.

The show must go on, yes. Then where do you draw the line? Until the phone rings exactly a augmented 4th above your melody line?

Things will take care of themselves.

Marc-Andre Hamelin's trick is the best. He starts playing this.