Bad flu season leads to coughing pandemic at opera and concert halls
Last night’s opening performance of Tristan und Isolde at the Four Seasons Centre had to be the worst display of runaway audience coughing I’ve heard in several seasons. One extended passage for solo English horn was nearly obliterated by coughs; I counted 27, but didn’t start at the beginning.
The worst noise was an all-out blow-the-room-clean cartoon sneeze during the Prelude.
The four instances of cell phones going off seemed nearly benign in comparison.
If I’d been the conductor, I would’ve paused the Prelude, turned around, glared upwards into the balconies for three or four agonizing seconds of silence and then said, “Really?”
The reality, though, is that we’re having a really bad flu season, and I can see people not wanting to waste a $150 opera ticket, even if they are in a bad way bronchially.
It was interesting to arrive home from the opera early this morning and see that the Telegraph had published an article on the coughing phenomenon, citing a study by a German economist named Wagner.
“It is the more modern pieces of 20th century classical music, it is the more quiet and slow movements that are interrupted by coughs,” Wagner had said on BBC4. “It is also non-random, in that coughing sometimes appears to occur in sort of avalanches or cascades through the audience so there are some patterns.”
Unfortunately, that’s as far as Wagner’s insights went.
The article (which you can read here) also quoted pianist Susan Tomes.
“I do notice the quality of coughing sometimes in concerts is surprisingly unrestrained,” said Tomes. “I think people are sometimes not aware what it sounds like to the performers if they just bark out a cough into the auditorium, that it’s really quite distracting and startling to people who are playing music.”
Imagine that poor English horn player — probably Lesley Young — having hours of careful practice reduced to nothing because of extraneous noise.
Just out of curiosity, I found this clip from a 2009 performance of that solo in Copenhagen, which also came with some audience noise:
Am I being unnecessarily grouchy about this?
John Terauds
Not at all. There are cough suppressants available at a fraction the cost of a ticket. As well as respect for performers, there is an equally lacking respect for fellow patrons who want to listen and remain healthy.
It was bad last night. I knew I wasn’t 100% so I took cough suppressant lozenges with me. Happens I didn’t need them but I do wish people would at least try. I mean no-one would regard an outbreak of farting as acceptable so why is uncontrolled coughing apparently OK?
No. People who are ill really should stay home. We don’t want the germs! However, if they feel they can manage to attend, they really need to be armed with bottled water, cough candies, mints, whatever it takes to help to control / eliminate the cough. And, if you end up having a bad spell, slip out to the lobby! The musicians, artists, dancers have prepared for the event, and only deserve to not be interrupted.
One thing I wish every concert goer knew: how to cough in public. It’s often called “the singer’s cough”. Here’s what you do: simply raise the inside of your elbow and press it firmly to your mouth; THEN cough. The sound of your coughing will barely be heard, especially if your arm is heavily clothed with a jacket or thick shirt.
Thank you, John! Awareness and courtesy seem to be non-existent, so articles such as yours and responses such as the three above here will help alleviate the problem (fingers crossed).
I was at a performance once when I suddenly desperately needed to cough. I suppressed it so hard that I had tears streaming from my eyes and, well there was some nasal action too (fortunately I had tissues). I fought for the better part of an hour and was able to swallow every cough or do tiny throat clearing at worst. I coughed for about 5 minutes straight during the applause. I think the performers thought I had been really moved because it looked like I had been openly weeping… Since then I always try to have a lozenge or piece of candy in my bag (without a crinkly wrapper of course!).
I believe much of this is because so many people have no awareness of where their bodies and sounds are in relation to everyone else. Why does it not occur to people that if you can hear every tiny sound from the stage, and you are in an acoustically wonderful hall, that the reverse is also true? Unwrapped cough drops are so cheap and easy, as is bottled water. I, too, have experienced the stretched silent throat and tears to avoid coughing during Marilyn Horne’s Ruckert Lieder – imagine how awful it would be NOT to control yourself in that situation. Wake Up Audiences! Keep your really bad germs home, and keep them silent if you attend.
“Operaramblings” makes a good point. I had an orchestral work premiered in Ottawa last weekend and some old duffer near the back of the hall let a blaster on the hard wooden pews just before the applause. Fortunately, it was almost the same note that the basses and cellos had just played.
Oh, Andrew! HA! A most unfortunate incident to be sure, but makes for an hilarious anecdote!!!
At some US symphony orchestra halls, free throat lozenges are available in the lobby before the concert and at intermission, sponsored by local pharmacies. Shopper’s Drug Mart, Rexall??
What a great idea!