For instance
ping
Reminds me of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4-spBDcJyk
A sign of the times.
The collapse of civilization is near when social norms are discarded.
The young using violence on the old in arguments over insignificant things is just one small example.
Maybe if the orchestra was playing Brahm’s Lullaby instead, it would have calmed the guy down.
Now, if Muti had been REALLY cool, he would have asked his orchestra for a show of hands as to who knew the old “Gillette Cavalcade of Sports” theme, and then played a couple of choruses.
In the old days things would have been different.
Fritz Reiner would have stopped the music, turned around, and glowered the combatants into submission.
Earlier, Artur Rodzinski had heard all these gangster tales about Chicago, so he would bring a revolver to the podium. If this had happened on his watch, there’d probably be some bullet holes in the ceiling of Theodore Thomas Orchestra Hall.
Another Fritz anecdote.
A young man was introduced to Dr. Reiner by his parents. After some initial niceties, the parents mentioned that they had brought their toddler son, years before, to a Reiner-led concert.
The old curmudgeon exploded. “You brought a baby to a concert? Vat iff he had started crying or making other kinds of noise?! I vill not hear uff it!!!”
“It’s the Chicago S.O. way.”
Classical Ping (or should I say ‘Bang!’)
I told my mom (who goes to CSO concerts all the time). She said, “I’ll start to worry when people start shooting at each other.”