December 8, 2004 at 11:17 AM

Is anyone else annoyed that we can't comment on each other's entries? I was just reading Emily's entry and I wanted to say that it isn't that way everywhere. For example, here in Budapest there is a very strict concert etiquette. I was talking about this with one of my math profs yesterday: Why, in America, are there people who give standing ovations at every performance? We came to the conclusion that people in America simply don't go to very many classical music performances so every one of them is extraordinary. It just goes to show how our standards have shifted.

I think also, that the main noise offenders at concerts are those same people who don't go to concerts often enough to figure out what constitutes "good to hear" and "bad to hear" at the Liszt Ferenc Matinee concerts, I cannot tell you how many little old ladies I have wanted to, ahem, have for lunch with a big Amarone, because of their rustling plastic bags.

As for the stink? Ah, you see, *some* people don't go to concerts for the music. *Some* people go there to be seen (and, alas, smelled) so that they can have the reputation of being cultured and intelligent. *Some* poeple don't understand that going to watch a classical music concert for a date makes you about as cultured and intelligent as going to watch a football game during a date makes you athletic. I used to be one of those people, but then I figured out that the passive enjoyment of music is so passé.

Oh h*ll, go figure. In America opera and classical music are not so much about the sheer enjoyment of music anymore, it's about background noise for ulterior motives like dating and dressing up. *weep* That's not to say that it doesn't happen in other countries, lord knows it happens enough in Hungary too, but you just don't see the kind of experienced musical appreciation as much in America. *sob* Oh well.

Errr... Anyway...

Oh, goodness, look at the time, I have only 45 minutes left for lunch! That's 45 minutes that I could use to practice!

This entry has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.

December 8, 2004 at 11:17 AM

Subscribe

Laurie's Books