Filed under: classical music concerts
Do you know anyone who has done that? Are they aware of what they are doing? Why not stay home? Any ideas for a cure?
For the same reason that people cough during Sunday morning sermons: they’re bored.
You don’t hear very many people coughing during movies, rock concerts, or any other events which people consider more exciting.
Someone brought up this subject before. Someone told of a piano recitalist who laid a basket of cough drops on the stage and announced that they were free for anyone who needed them.
Of course they know they are doing it. Maybe they do it all along but you only hear it when the music is quiet. I don’t suppose they do it just to annoy others. Faced with an uncontrollable urge to cough, they have to weigh up whether it would be more disruptive to cough or to get up and leave(everyone has to stand up, seats clonking etc). Unfortunate but that’s what happens when many people are gathered together.
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As a manager of professional musicians sitting-in their concerts over the years, I have been aghast at some of the thoughtless and downright rude things people do in concerts. Of course, it is difficult to stifle a cough, but usually a person can hold back until a loud passage. Those that hack away all through a performance should not be there. It’s not their fault they are unwell, but they ruin it for everyone else – including the hard-working musicians. I feel like dragging them out by the hair and shooting them sometimes.
I once had to take-away some sweets from a member of the audience. She was sitting there twiddling one of those crinkly and oh-so-loud wrappers during the concert. I quietly got up from my seat, went over to her and calmly took them from her. The look on her face was one I will remember forever. I have also had to reprimand people for taking flash photography during a concert (ANY photography without permission is not allowed) and also the cellphone of someone who thought it was OK to have a loud conversation in the middle of a concert.
I have also been present at a concert where the conductor stopped the performance and screamed at a person talking on their phone and demanded they leave the hall before he continued with the performance.
There’s nowt as stupid as folk!
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For the same reason that people cough during Sunday morning sermons: they’re bored.
You don’t hear very many people coughing during movies, rock concerts, or any other events which people consider more exciting.
Someone brought up this subject before. Someone told of a piano recitalist who laid a basket of cough drops on the stage and announced that they were free for anyone who needed them.
References :
Because they are stupid.
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The ones that bother me more than those that cough are the ones that bring their babies so they can cry through the performance. Forget getting a decent recording of the concert. Besides, although I can’t prove it, I just know that at least four or five of the printed programs have small print at the bottom that says "you are a designated cougher for this performance, please comply
!!
Musician, composer, teacher.
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