iPhone Ringer Brings Mahler Symphony, New York Philharmonic, to a Halt
Cell phones have become a necessity of modern life. Without one, you’re completely off the map; no one can reach you if they want to talk to you and you can’t access any of the networks that keep you fully supplied with all the information you need to function. To some degree, they’ve even replaced watches as the preferred method of telling time. There are, however, times when cell phones should not be used. In class, in a lesson, at the movie theaters, and, as the ominous voice from the ceiling reminds you sometimes, in the concert hall.
If you’re a regular concert-goer, you know that not everyone turns off their phones. Plenty do, but many others elect to simply silence their phones. Some are even bold enough to go for the vibrate setting. For the more adventurous among us, consider the possible consequences, such as one man’s public humiliation last week when his ringing iPhone brought the New York Philharmonic to a complete halt. The orchestra was mere minutes away from the ending of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony when conductor Alan Gilbert turned around and demanded that the offending cell phone be silenced:
The symphony ends incredibly quietly so there was literally no way that we could go on…so I stopped the music and I asked the general vicinity where the sound was coming from ‘please turn off your cellphone.’ And I had to ask several times…”
While the owner of the phone, described as an elderly gentlemen by eyewitnesses, was eventually able to silence his device, by then the atmosphere of the movement had dissipated. The concert was eventually completed, and the musicians received overtime-pay since they had to stay later. Fellow audience members were apparently infuriated, shouting diatribes and demanding for the man to be removed from the hall. Gilbert received applause for his heroism, and I completely agree with the audience’s sentiment. Much more than a matter of annoyance, a ringing cell phone is an insult to the composer as well as to the musicians who prepared the concert for the listeners’ enjoyment. Especially in a work such as Mahler’s where the writing is so personal, to interrupt such a heartfelt piece of music seems blasphemous. So do Gustav, Alan Gilbert, and all the musicians you know a favor next time you take a seat in Avery Fisher Hall: turn it off. 90 minutes of Mahler is far more entertaining than another cat video on YouTube anyway.
When the ominous voice from the ceiling is Alec Baldwin, perhaps there’s a bit of irony in that voice preaching mobile phone etiquette.