 |
| © facebook.com/chungkyungwha |
From my previous blog posts, you have probably
ascertained that I feel rather strongly about audiences in the concert hall, in
particular young children. In writing about this once again, I am running the
risk of repeating myself and sounding like a broken record. However, I'm afraid
I just couldn't resist writing about this particular topic this week...
Reverberating
through the classical music world this week was a concert at the Royal Festival
Hall. The concert, dubbed 'The Legend Returns', was performed by violin legend
Kyung Wha Chung. As the rather self-assured title suggests, this was her big
comeback concert after 12 years away from the performing stage. Reviews were
very positive about her performance, stating that she “gave a recital in which
every note was brim-full of her impetuous, intense personality”.
The focus
point of all articles about the concert, however, was not so positive. Kyung
had just finished one movement of a sonata and, as with every classical concert
that has ever happened, and ever will happen, a cacophony of coughs began to
ring around the hall. This then led to cause amusement amongst some of the
audience, who had a light chuckle. Unfortunately one young girl had a prolonged
tickle in her throat. We've all had this feeling, where you just can't stop
yourself from coughing, it's not a nice feeling. The remedy is simple; cough
more.
Now, Kyung took particular offence to this innocent young girl and
decided to shout something from the stage.
“Come back when you're older”.
I'm
not quite sure where to start in response to this quote. As a professional
musician, it is surely one of Kyung's responsibilities to actively ensure that
all of her audience feel comfortable when at her concerts, especially young
children. Also, after 12 years away, would you not just be grateful to have a
full audience of 3,000 people? Whether they are young, old, animal or human,
they all paid for their seat and made an effort to see her.
Kyung wrote an
article on the Guardian in response to the criticism she received. Perhaps
understandably, she began by commenting how classical music is still most
definitely 'alive' in the 21st century. This is true, and it has been shown by
the amount of national press this event has seen, despite it being negative.
However, for Kyung to then go on to say how she still believed the child
shouldn't have been at the concert was beyond me; as were her comments about
the ways in which we should listen to classical music in the concert hall.
Kyung
believes that listening should be done in complete silence with no noise at
all, as this is the only way to truly appreciate the beauty of what is being
played in front of you. What she doesn't seem to understand, however, is that
this is completely unnatural. Again, as I mentioned in my previous blog, I am
certainly not suggesting that we should all make noise constantly through a
performance. What I do believe though, is that we should all feel comfortable.
Feeling uncomfortable at a concert will not lead to a positive listening
experience. Kyung suggests that we need to educate young people on “the art of
true listening”, also stating that children should only attend “children's
concerts”. Is this not completely alienating them from the real classical music
world? In doing so are we not further enhancing the pre-conceived ideas many
people have about classical music concerts? It is not healthy.
This is
actually my final blog post of the year, and it is a shame to have to finish on
a negative story in the classical music world. However, it has to be said that
Southern Sinfonia do not feel the same way as Kyung. We want as many young
children as possible to come to our concerts; we actively encourage and
strongly believe that everyone has the right to experience musical excellence.
I can't wait for 2015 to start so we can show our beliefs through the many
exciting projects we have got coming up.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
You can find out more about Southern Sinfonia by visiting our website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Before I voice my opinion, I'd first like to correct some of the mis-information in the article. I was sitting at the front row of the very recital and heard and saw everything exactly as happened.
ReplyDeleteOne, you don't address a Korean name by a single syllable from his or her first name. Kyung-Wha Chung's first name is 'Kyung-Wha' and her family name is 'Chung'. 'Kyung-Wha' is one name, and one never breaks them up when saying the name. I'd suggest you'd call her Kyung-Wha or simply Chung should you like to avoid writing down that long all the time.
Two, the incident had significant build up. First movement finished, the surge of coughs, Chung waited first with good humour, it didn't stop, people started giggle, Chung got visibly uncomfortable as coughing got even louder but still waited, and then finally as a bit of silence landed and she was putting her bow on the string to get going again, right at the moment the child's throaty cough rang through the hall. Chung dropped the bow, took a good look at the box seat and was shocked to find that the cougher was very young indeed (reportedly about 5 or under). She said to herself 'There's a child', and then repeated it to her pianist before she said...
Third, 'Come back when you're older' was not what she said. She didn't address directly to the child but her parents ( and it wasn't yelling, shouting or in anyway aggressive manner), and the exact sentence was 'Bring her back when she is older'.
Now, these may sound like benign details, but in such a case as this, mere choice of words and tweak of the situation can turn the person under attack portrayed as a witch.
Royal Festival Hall apparently has no rule about the minimum age of audience allowed, but many major concert halls do have and I personally think for a good reason. I'm saying neither young children should be banned nor they should be allowed only to designated 'children's concerts'. But even with no set rules, when a child is very young, the parents should be realistic about their child's interest, concentration span, and if the nature of the performance and program is compatible. A violin-piano duo with a big chunk of Prokofiev and Bach in the middle is by no means very child-friendly, and the parents should have known better. Unless a child is a musical prodigy or has unusually deep interest in music and culture for its age, the experience of sitting through such a concert is more likely marked as a negative experience than positive.
Chung might have over reacted, but I think the first blame should really go to the parents who failed to be considerate to the performers, other audiences and above all to their own child.
I'm surprised none of the sensationalistic media failed to point that out.