LET IT RIP, VALLEJO!

I attended the first performance of the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra in its new venue at the old Empress Theatre in beautiful downtown Vallejo on Sunday, March 12.  Before things got going, I took the opportunity to turn back from my vantage point in the second row of the orchestra, and marvel at the sight of a great upward sweep of happy music-lover faces, young and old, filling every seat in the house.  The show was sold out.  Bravo Vallejo!

I loved the beautiful Empress setting, with its rich red velvet curtains and massive gilded curlicues, as befits a world-class symphony orchestra, and the words “VALLEJO SYMPHONY” projected in subtle light on the valance of the proscenium above the orchestra. 

Many years of concert-going taught me that audiences must refrain from applauding between movements.  We should hold it in until the end of the piece.  I always wait to be sure it’s the end lest I look like a jerk, unfamiliar with the music, ignorant of correct protocol of classical performances.

But I had nothing to fear in Vallejo, at that wonderful concert in the Empress Theatre on Sunday.  This audience went so crazy ga-ga loco over the performance of masterworks by Haydn, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky, with Livia Sohn, the brilliant violin soloist, under the magic baton of conductor Marc Taddei, we couldn’t hold ourselves back, applauded wildly in between movements as well as at the end, howling and cheering like utter fools.

Mr. Taddei, the kind and wise conductor, rather than reprimand us for bad behavior, as other maestros might have done, turned to the audience with grace and dignity, smiled at us, accepted our unbounded joy, thanked us, even acknowledged one of the solo performers in one instance, before turning back and getting on with the rest of the piece. 

So, who made the rules?  Who dictates concert etiquette?  Afluent magazine, claiming to be the authority, informs us that “applause should only occur when the work is finished and not in between movements.”  They also instruct their readers in the art of clapping, included here just for fun.  “The appropriate way to clap is holding your hands slightly to your left and clapping small brisk claps. Never clap in front of your face. For a standing ovation – stand, lift your elbows high and slightly to the left, then clap small and briskly.”
 

Elsewhere I dug up bits like these: “Mozart took delight in audiences clapping at once in response to a nice musical effect. Individual movements were encored in response to audience applause.”  “In their day, audiences spontaneously clapped when they heard something they really liked -- even if it meant breaking into the music before its conclusion.  If audiences didn't applaud during the performance, composers would get worried. (How well I understand.)  Brahms figured his first piano concerto was a total flop because there was so little audience response.” “Some composers actually composed their music to incite audience response in the midst of a piece.” 
 

Speaking of audiences, the eminent conductor Pierre Monteux said, “their artificial restraint from applause between movements of a concerto or symphony… certainly does not fit in with the composers’ intentions."

Brooklyn Philharmonic CEO Richard Dare says: "Perhaps it's time to simply allow ourselves to react to classical music with our hearts just as we do when we meet other forms of art. Classical music belongs to the audience -- to its listeners, not the critics; to the citizens, not the snobs."

The rolling of eyes and killing looks are, “born of a snobbishness, a device whereby some people (yours truly among them) can feel superior by showing that they know the piece isn't over yet. It is entirely a twentieth century convention - a custom that would shock Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and any other composer prior to our own time.” 

Vallejo is a city of the future; no longer a twentieth century mindset; and this seems a fitting time for a healthy re-examination of old customs.  Here’s an alternative concert manifesto: We, Vallejo music lovers, claim the right to clap with all our hearts and souls whenever and however the music makes us do it.  Even at the symphony.

Arise, fellow Vallejoans, come one come all.  Go to the Vallejo Symphony.  Buy your tickets in advance.  Clap your heads off if you feel like it, for beautiful music, performed by the world class Vallejo Symphony Orchestra, under the brilliant baton of maestro Marc Taddei, a gentleman who understands feelings.   If Tchaikowsky can let it rip, we can too.