Cell phone offender at New York Philharmonic gives his side of story
As some people suspected all along, it was an alarm on that now infamous iPhone, which forced the orchestra's music director, Alan Gilbert, to take the widely applauded, extraordinary step of stopping the performance of Mahler's profound Ninth Symphony on Tuesday until the offending device was silenced.
But the owner, "called Patron X by the Philharmonic," said that ...
Patron X, a long time Philharmonic subscriber in a front-row seat (I wonder if he will ask to change his location now), has chatted with and apologized to Gilbert. In the Times story, the unidentified man says "he had not slept in two days" and feels "horrible" about the whole thing.
I'm not sure how many folks who were calling for expulsions and even executions (I heard from some pretty mean folks) will be satisfied by all of this. It does point up human frailty, of course, and that usually provokes sympathy from those of us known to be similarly mortal. I'm guilty, too, of jumping to conclusions, having gone through so many performances marred by unmistakable audience rudeness.
Seems like we now have to worry about "smart" phones that are also wicked, fooling us into thinking we have control, when, all along, they can overrule our wishes. I'm glad I still use an obsolete cell phone.
Maybe those pre-concert announcements about telling people to turn off everything will have to add warnings about hidden alarms. We may need to delay all performances a few minutes while newly trained ushers roam the aisles helping patrons figure out the inner, potentially dangerous workings of their assorted hand-held devices.
Comments
Though I am sure it was frustrating and awkward for the rest of the audience, my heart does go out to this guy. No one wants to be "that person". I religiously check my phone (and alarms) before going into rehearsals or a concert and yet I can think of times where I "missed something" and it has gone off in an awkward moment of the music.
The things that worries me the most is that this is now a major news story and as Alex Ross tweeted this morning: "It fits the cheap cartoon image of classical music. Ugh."
Posted by: David Vickerman | January 13, 2012 9:29 AM
Or maybe we should just follow the age-old technical advise from help desks all over the world...: RFM!
(Read the F... um... Full Manual!)
Posted by: bookguybaltmd | January 13, 2012 9:57 AM
Isn't there an opportunity for music adventure here? Why not Mahler and Marimbas? Wasn't there a "surprise symphony" back in the day? Gustav with Gusto. Go for it.
Posted by: John Haluska | January 13, 2012 10:24 AM
Salient points would be: for any phone, in order of preference: 1. Turn off completely; 2. Put in Silent mode AND put into airplane mode.
No "turned off" phone will alarm. It's turned off.
That said, everyone makes mistakes, and the immediate assumption was that some jackass with inflated self-importance refused to comply with the mandate to turn device off. It can happen.
Lets move on. It's not like he stomped a kitten.
How vivid. TS
Posted by: LJ Kirk | January 13, 2012 11:22 AM
I appreciate Gilbert's action and I can empathize with Patron X's angst. It must be tough to comprehend that when one flips the sound switch off a device can still make sounds. If you turn off an iPhone, as in push the sleep/lock button for a few seconds and then slide the red arrow to power off, it is truly off. The alarm won't sound. That's the only real way to guarantee that something won't happen with a phone. Turn it off. Really off.
Posted by: Nila | January 13, 2012 11:28 AM
No where am I reading why he did nothing when it went off? He never says he didn't know it was his (and how could he not?!)
Why isn't there anything in the news reports describing him fumbling with his phone? If he was confused and unsure what to do with phone, he could have stood up and quietly left the auditorium.
And why is he apologizing to the conductor instead of the other paying patrons?
That'd be like me letting my cell phone disturb others in a movie theatre, and thinking I owed Speilberg an apology, but not the ticket buyers.
Posted by: Mel Holden | January 13, 2012 10:09 PM
Been there and done that to my yoga class. I'm checking my phone next time I carry it to a concert.
Here's a little classical music humor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEdhNgAJqNY
Posted by: sarah levine simon | January 16, 2012 3:33 PM
New rule: If you insist on bringing a cell phone to a concert performance, you must Scotch-tape it to your head for all to see.
Posted by: gringomike | January 19, 2012 6:36 AM
Hey Tim,
Have you seen this video? It's too wonderful! The PERFECT response (in the context of that particular performance)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16688007
(my apologies for the Toyota commercial and BBC logo stuff you have to sit through first).
"Slovakian viola player Lukas Kmit reacted coolly when a mobile phone interrupted his recital at the Orthodox Synagogue in Presov, in Slovakia.
Rather than losing his temper, Kmit adapted the notorious Nokia theme, much to the delight of his audience."
Posted by: bookguybaltmd | January 24, 2012 7:39 AM
A little late to this thread, but for everyone's info, cellphone alarms DO RING even when the cellphone is off and powered down. At least on my former blackberry this is the case. Trust me, the guy wasn't lying if this happened to him. Maybe other phones work differently, but it is actually a convenience on the Blackberry if you turn your phone off by mistake to be reassured that you'll get your morning wakeup alarm.
Posted by: EBR | February 24, 2012 12:15 PM