“How and why did concert-going change from a raucous, noisy affair to one of hushed appreciation?” writes Alexander Lee in the September 9 issue of History Today. “When the first public opera houses were founded in the mid-17th century, they were designed more as venues for social interaction than as sites of aesthetic experience…. By the 18th century … the unruliness of performances had already become a commonplace of literature.… Not until the late 19th century did silence come to be expected of audiences…. Why did audiences change their minds? … The advent of Romanticism persuaded Germans to adopt a more uncompromising approach…. The culmination of this trend was Richard Wagner’s notion of the Gesamtkunstwerk (‘total work of art’)…. Little scope remained for inattention—or interjection…. The upper and middle classes … attempted to distance themselves consciously from the noisy and often crude behavior that was increasingly associated with music halls. Silence … became … a mark of social distinction…. Now that efforts are being made to broaden the appeal of opera, perhaps the time has come to be a little less precious.… Admittedly, there might be a bit more booing. But who knows? Perhaps the applause might be louder, too.”
Posted September 8, 2017
