2023-04-28 15:54:56
“It’s the first time that I’ve been applauded for a pizz’! (that is to say a pizzicato, namely a string plucked by the finger and not rubbed by the bow, editor’s note), launched, with as much spirit as kindness, Antoine Lederlin to the public of the Théâtre des Champs- Elysees. My soul as a cellist is filled with it. »
At the end of the 10th String Quartet by Franz Schubert, did the artist indicate between the lines that it would still be good to let the music die out and the silence that follows it blossom and then fade away, before showing his approval with a lot of fanfare handclaps? But how not to understand the impatience of the listeners to express their enthusiasm, so much the « pizz’ » in question overflowed with charm and humor?
Sound room membership
This Sunday, April 23 in the morning, the untimely applause were legion, annoying the spectators in search of concentration, even of meditation, but testifying to the adhesion of a room captivated by the talent of the Belcea Quartet, joined in the second part by the pianist Bertrand Chamayou for the Quintet by Cesar Frank. A dazzling interpretation of flame and lyricism, prodigal of sonorities sometimes biting, sometimes silky, cries and whispers, infinite phrasing circulating from earth to sky and from sky to earth.
If applause is not new, its quota has evolved over the centuries and cultures. Silent religiosity during the performance, out of respect for the works and their performers, is far from being an invariant of history or geography. And, while we seek more than ever to broaden the audience of classical music, would it not be excessive to require that neophytes be familiar from the outset with the mute uses that the most seasoned have polished and polished over concerts ?
Miscellaneous noises…
A few years ago, reacting to exasperated sighs and other « chute » furious at some spectators scandalized by irrelevant applause, conductor John Eliot Gardiner turned to face the room: “I prefer the applause between the movements of the symphony to the coughs during it! » Of which act…
Thus, let’s be tolerant and, better, happy that music lovers externalize their admiration and their recognition, as long as they are committed to not disturbing the artists or disrupting their performance, the extreme difficulty of which cannot be underlined enough. If silence is golden, the sound of rhythmically clapping hands is also precious. Very precious, even, to reassure, to galvanize an instrumentalist or a singer who has just surpassed himself.
What does Mozart think of it?
Note also valid for composers if we are to believe one of them, and not the least. In October 1791, Mozart wrote to his wife Constance that his new opera, The Magic Flutepleases the Viennese public, many passages being immediately applauded and even encored: “But what gives me the most pleasure is the silent success! » However, in the same missive, he mentions his other work, The Mercy of Titusprogrammed, him, in Prague: “All the songs were applauded”he rejoices, just as sincere.
#Applauding #concert