| Author |
Subject |
sarah
schenkman
Registered User
(3/25/01 2:20:13 pm)
Reply |
What do
standing ovations mean to you?
It's great to get a standing ovation
when you play - makes you feel appreciated. But what does it mean
when you always get a standing ovation. The audience for my
orchestra gives us a standing ovation at just about every concert.
For me this gesture has pretty much lost it's meaning - especially
when the concert is lackluster. I realize that this is petty - that
you should take the appreciation whenever you get it, but it is
bothering me. Does anyone else feel this way?
|
mcello
Registered User
(3/25/01 6:40:39 pm)
Reply |
Standing ovations
I think like you said, it gets
rather old when audiences give them all of the time. On the flip
side, I was embarrassed recently when a university piano instructor
was giving a recital and there were a couple of obvious mistakes,
but overall a decent performance. At least half the audience were
people from her church and her family, and they gave her a standing
ovation. Anyway, the rest of the piano faculty, feeling that the
performance did not warrant this, remained seated. I felt their
attitude was snobbish compared to the appreciation of her family and
friends. I know that they would all argue with me, but I felt better
to error on the side of appreciation than give a snobbish gesture.
It would be interesting to hear how others feel about this.
|
Steve
Drake
Registered
User
(3/25/01 9:42:01 pm)
Reply |
Re:
What do standing ovations mean to you?
In Nashville, standing ovations
generally mean nothing, although sometimes, if the guest artist is
stretching out his/her bows too long, it means they want to leave.
My MP3's
My Cello
Homepage
|
zambocello
Registered User
(3/25/01 9:59:14 pm)
Reply |
Re:
What do standing ovations mean to you?
That it's easier to put one's coat
on while standing than while seated.
|
DavidS000
Registered User
(3/26/01 1:49:50 pm)
Reply |
People
copy other people
It is the domino effect that causes
applause, standing ovations, stampedes, etc. Have you ever watched
how cattle copy each other? If you happen to walk across a cattle
field, it only takes a few cattle to start following you and then
they will all follow you. People are not much different when it
comes to group behavior.
|
JanJan2
Registered User
(3/26/01 2:04:55 pm)
Reply |
Especially when it's a moo-ving performance!
Janet
|
Len
Thompson
Registered User
(3/26/01 3:52:51 pm)
Reply |
Following the leader!
I must confess, If everyone stands,
so do I. If nobody stands, I don't eather. Sometimes I would like to
shout "BRAVO", But I'm afraid I'll draw attention to myself. I guess
I'm just one of the herd! MOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Len
|
Paul
Tseng ICS Staff 
Administrator
(3/26/01 5:27:36 pm)
Reply
 |
Re:
Especially when it's a moo-ving performance!
Mooo-ving? If there are "Bravos!"
with the standing ovation, we might be talking "foot and mouth!"
That's the first time I've HERD of that one!
Paul Tseng
My Website
Alexander's website
MP3!
Edited by: Paul
Tseng ICS Staff at: 3/26/01 5:27:36 pm
|
Paul
Tseng ICS Staff
Administrator
(3/26/01 4:47:16 pm)
Reply
|
Re:
What do standing ovations mean to you?
I'll tell you what it means to me as
an audience member.
When I heard Slava play last December, it
obviously wasn't at the level of his playing when he was in his
20s-40s. But he still played like Royalty.
I stood up to
applaud and shout bravo not so much because of what he just did, but
because of who he is.
To me, standing up and shouting bravo
means (besides "great job!") we love you!
Now, as a
performer...The biggest Standing Ovation I got was in 4th grade when
I hit a homer in little league! Just kidding. I think people mean
different things when they do this and I just take it as a sign
that:
1) They really liked what they heard
2) They really
like me despite what they heard
3) They want to go home and this
is a gracious-looking way to sneak out.
It doesn't bother me
at all if I don't get a standing ovation (playing Dvorak Concerto
w/orchestra will almost guarantee a standing "O" no matter what,
though). As long as I don't see tomatoes and other stuff flying at
me, I'm pretty content! 
Paul Tseng
My Website
Alexander's website
MP3!
|
cyn38
Registered User
(3/27/01 3:43:08 pm)
Reply |
The
dilemma of initiating change
I agree that ovations are overdone
and have lost much of their meaning. We're in one of those
situations here where the orchestra gets an ovation on a regular
basis.
From an audience point of view, I feel extremely
uncomfortable when everyone around me is standing and I'm not, which
isn't to say that I didn't think the performance was wonderful,
because it almost always is. How do we go about changing things?
Seems like we've worked so hard to reach the non-traditional
classical people and fill the hall, and now that we've done so, the
uneducated masses likely don't know the difference between our
regular weekly outstanding offering and those very special
performances that are truly worthy of the ovation. They've only
recently figured out where to applaud, and where NOT to 
It's a rather strange coincidence that last Sunday's paper
had an article addressing this very thing. One of the writers that
regularly covers the symphony wrote about the overuse of standing
ovations and urged concertgoers to not rise out of habit or because
everyone else is. That's probably a good start...educating people
through mediums such as this. Perhaps a note in the
program?
Bottom line: As a regular member of the audience,
and short of the standing ovation, what may we do to show heartfelt
appreciation and let the orchestra know how much we enjoyed the
music?
Enthusiastic applause
Staying until all the bows are complete
Returning regularly to the symphony to hear more
Smiles, bravos, whistles? <--I know that's frowned
on
Other ideas? I agree about not standing, but to remain
seated when everyone else is up makes me feel ungrateful and
snobbish, neither of which is true in the least.
--cyn
cynsymphony@aol.com
|
Lisa
Shipman
Registered
User
(3/28/01 9:53:54 am)
Reply |
Ovations
I feel the need to comment on this
one. Yes, ovations are seemingly a normal thing at the end of a
performance now and maybe it has lost it's appeal. But...
Last
weekend my husband picked up a video on whim for me. It was a
concert of Sarah Brightman, about 4 years ago. He knows I'm a big
fan and of course I popped that video right in. She gave a stunning
performance ending with "Music of the Night" from Phantom. That song
alone should have warranted a standing ovation. She poured her soul
into it and would have moved most people to tears. The audience
applauded enthusiasticly for her at what was clearly the end of the
concert. She made her bows and walked off the stage. Still
applauding but seated. She came back out for her encore with Andrea
Boccelli to do a duet. Now the audience stands up for him, and
clearly for him. Now maybe I'm wrong but that to me would be a huge
snub. I'm not sure what my reaction would have been if that was me.
She handled it gracefully and did her encores but I can't help but
to think that it was hurtful to her.
Just my opinion.
|
jjlochlomond
Registered User
(3/28/01 4:34:28 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Ovations
My preference is to only stand for
truly, truly outstanding performances -- ones that really grab me or
make me cry, for instance -- but I'm "lucky" enough to usually be
seated in the back rows/upper balconies where no one's going to
notice if I'm remaining seated when everyone else is standing,
really. On those rare occasions when I'm able to afford a seat more
in the thick of things, I do go with the crowd as not standing then
becomes more of an obvious affront.
Which makes me wonder,
is part of the problem that the people in the most visible seats may
be people who are at the concert more to show off, or because they
think going to the symphony is something they should do, than
because they know and love music? Certainly I've seen fewer standing
O's given in Boston (which seems to have fairly savvy music
audiences) than I have at concerts in other parts of the country
that don't have as strong a presence. And just about every pops
performance I've been dragged to has gotten a standing O, while
symphony orchestra performances seem to less frequently -- and they
seem to be quite rare at smaller chamber performances, which don't
tend to attract the casual audience. (Youth concerts are another
thing entirely -- haven't been to one in a while, but again, the
kids almost always get standing ovations -- but I'm willing to bet
that their parents were, indeed, very moved by their children's
performances, so I don't have a problem with that except insofar as
it conditions children to expect standing ovations.)
Lisa, I
had a question on the Brightman/Bocelli encore you mentioned -- how
was it obvious that the standing ovation was specifically for him?
I'm not doubting that it was, just haven't seen the tape so I'm
wondering what the specific clues were. (People shouting "Bravo
Bocelli!" for example.)
|
jjlochlomond
Registered User
(3/28/01 4:41:03 pm)
Reply |
When to
applaud...
Cyn, you mentioned people having
just learned when to applaud and when not to -- I had a fun
experience with this the other week. I went to a Gunther Schuller
birthday celebration, which was kind of a mini-career retrospective
with selections from his work in both classical and jazz. The
audience definitely had trouble adjusting from genre to genre, as
you would hear smatterings of applause burst out in the middle of a
classical piece (presumably from the jazz-oriented who were
impressed with a particular feat), and hear late-entering applause
after an improv on the jazz pieces (presumably from the
classical-oriented who realized on hearing some applause, "oh,
that's right, I don't have to wait to the end and it's even rude
*not* to applaud here).
|
Email This To a
Friend
Topic Commands
(Moderator only)
Rap
Resources