It seems that we rang a dissonant bell with a lot of readers in our review of the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra's performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, published March 31. The Alaska Dispatch News has noted plenty of fine concerts, important theater and significant artists so far this year. But it appears that what people really want to talk about is crying babes and boorish adults.
There was about a hundred comments on the review online and on Alaska Dispatch News' Facebook page, and even an old-fashioned letter to the editor. I suspect it set a near record for (mostly) sustained civility and cogency in reader comments. The subject clearly goes beyond one curmudgeon's opinion and it's probably worth sorting through some of the main themes raised by our readers.
Proper concert behavior. The overwhelming number of respondents agreed that it is never appropriate to do or allow things that disrupt other people's experience of any event that they have paid for or otherwise expect to enjoy without the distraction of preventable interruptions or intrusions. That's basic manners 101. You don't converse, have a cellphone on or walk around during a program that is best appreciated by paying close attention to the content, that includes such things as lectures as well as serious musical programs. If you must leave your seat, do not return until there is a pause, as at intermission or, maybe, between two pieces of music.
And do not bring children to a concert unless they are of an age where they can understand and follow your directions to remain as noiseless and attentive as possible. There was a time when "no children under 6" was printed on tickets. I recall a frustrated parent being turned away from an Itzak Perlman recital at West High in the l980s. I don't know why that restriction disappeared; perhaps presenters think that they can stir up a new crop of concertgoers among young parents and infants, even if their presence disturbs us dinosaurs who make up the bulk of the audience but can be counted on to attend no matter what and will soon be listening to the heavenly choirs anyway.
Speaking as a dinosaur, I think that's a miscalculation. Sixty is the new 30 and, I like to think, by the time the boomers hit 90, science will have confirmed that regular exposure to the arts increases one's life span to 120. We'll be around for a while, but we may become less inclined to invest in season tickets if an evening in the concert hall starts to resemble an afternoon at the mall.
Several readers blamed the problem on a "sense of entitlement," an opinion confirmed by one reader who insisted that she WOULD bring her baby to concerts because she had no other child care and refused to "live like a hermit" until her child was 18. Two points: There's a big difference between 6 years old and 18. Also, there are some sacrifices we all accept in the process of parenting. One is that we can't just go anywhere we want anytime we want. I missed a lot of shows when my children were younger, but I would hardly compare those years to the life of an eremite.
A couple of people noted the matter of applause. Curiously, the crowd attending on Saturday night clapped after every movement while those attending on Sunday did so only at the end of the finale. I don't know why, but that's an issue for a later discussion.
In the meantime, please try to treat others the way you would want to be treated, whatever your age or family situation. I think I've heard that's some kind of rule. Of all the comments I read, the one that most struck my heart was from a senior citizen who cannot afford to attend many events, who had to stretch finances to get the ticket to hear Beethoven only to have the experience marred by unnecessary commotion.
Tune it out. A couple of readers said they were aware of the disruptions but "tuned them out" and enjoyed the concert nonetheless. At least one was a parent who admitted to having to hear children make noise all day long, so the crying was nothing out of the ordinary. It's an interesting idea, but perhaps impractical for most people. If I understand the science of people who stick wires on their subjects' heads, it is possible to note then dismiss a sound that is repeated with regularity, as in a rhythm, while concentrating on a separate sound or thought. But that actually makes one more attentive to an irregular or unexpected sound, such as a cellphone going off or a baby crying.
Once at the opera in San Francisco, I sat next to a woman with a respirator. The rhythmic click and hiss were an issue for about 30 seconds then drifted into the background. It helped that she was a good conversationalist between acts, highly informed about music and funny as well. "I always have to think, is this going to be a two-bottle opera or a three-bottle opera," she said.
Bringing children to live performances. Many people, besides myself, noted the model behavior of kids as young as 5 at the concert (and the disgraceful behavior of some over 50). No one disputed that taking young people to art events is a good idea, as long as they don't bother others. Whether a child is ready largely depends on the child. When I prepared to bring my own children to performances I looked for things that might engage their interest and not exceed their attention spans. Happily there are all kinds of things in Anchorage that fit this bill, like Alaska Junior Theater's shows and short concerts by students at every neighborhood school in town. Before going I would give them "the talk" about how to behave, and they would have to buy in to the idea. If they found it terribly boring, I assured them, we could leave at intermission, so we both knew there was an escape valve.
For the most part, this worked. However, I always walked in knowing that at any time an exit might be necessary. For that reason, I bought tickets toward the back of the hall, preferably on the aisle, to minimize disrupting lines of sight and others in their seats. More than once we did not make it to the grand finale.
Discouraging improper behavior. At least one commentator thought I should have confronted the disrupters ("politely") in person rather than shaming them in the press. I disagree. No names were used in the review; I didn't know them. And it would have done more violence to the slow movement had I stood at my seat on the ground floor and hollered to the mezzanine, "Please, fellow music lover, silence your infant!" The late conductor Maurice Bonney once stopped the Anchorage Symphony and told a patron with a baby to leave. He did it politely, but the sense of shame must have been gargantuan. Also, despite what you may think, the purpose of a newspaper article is to describe what happened.
Rudeness and sticks. With regard to those who disagreed with my take on the soprano or wondered whether the Anchorage performance could have been as good as one by the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra, those fall to the category of subjective taste. But two things struck me as incorrect. One was the idea that Alaskans are particularly rude. "If you want an audience with class, go to a city with class," said one respondent.
I went online to research the rudest cities and states in America. Alaska didn't make the top 10. Anchorage wasn't even on the list. My experience is that concertgoers in towns with much more artistic "class" than we're generally credited with can behave with a stark lack of decorum. I recall a Carnegie Hall program where the chat, coughs and general rumbling continued until the pianist took his hands off the keys, turned to the audience and pleaded, "Music starts with silence."
Finally, a lone commentator accused me of having a stick inserted into a particular part of my anatomy. This was extremely offensive and I must rise to deny it. No critic worth his or her salt goes to a concert without at least two sticks so inserted and I myself never go without at least three. It's a requirement of the job.
First Friday rambles
April 3 -- Good Friday as well as First Friday -- will see the opening of several exhibits in the Anchorage and, the forecast suggests, good weather for strolling between the venues.
Sharon VanStarkenburg has a show of fairly startling paintings at the International Gallery of Contemporary Art. In the series "The Debutantes," VanStarkenburg muses "about the push and pull of girlhood/womanhood and the buffeting that takes place in a society that sexualizes, frets over, censors, exploits and admonishes young women." She will give a free artist talk with light refreshments at 4 p.m. Saturday, April 4. Her work is on display in the center gallery and sculptural work by UAA students is on view in the north and south gallery space.
Garry Kaulitz displays a mix of pencil drawings and monoprints inspired by his recent trip to Ecuador at the Blue.Hollomon Gallery, Arctic Boulevard and 36th Avenue. "If you look closely, you may find Inca gods, rich fauna, dancing figures and mysterious animals," Kaultiz says of the show "Southern Exposure," and puts the emphasis on "mystery."
Scott Clendaniel, perhaps best known for his portraits of beer, is inviting the public to his new studio in the Fourth Avenue Marketplace, 333 W. Fourth Ave., Suite 4. This is the former Post Office Mall, next to the Sunshine Plaza, where the artist has nabbed a top-floor spot with a wonderful view of the Ship Creek area and Mount McKinley. He'll have the open house from 5-7 p.m.
Kerry Tasker's large-scale photographs are on display at Sub Zero Lounge. Tasker says they represent an exploration of "surreal landscapes and energetic environments."
And last but never least, the Anchorage School District Art Exhibition will close on April 12. The main venue is at the Anchorage Museum, but additional work can be seen at Loussac and Eagle River libraries. The display at the Mall at Sears has already come down.