Thread: Do you clap after a performance you don't like?

I've recently attended a concert that I don't like (and believe most weren't too thrilled about it either), but after the last movement ends, everyone just clapped and not a single person boo'ed. [It was like the orchestra didn't even bother for rehearsals]


What do you do if you're attending an outrageous performance? Do you polite clap at the end? Boo? Or clap in the middle of the performance?

Usually I leave the theater before the end of the piece in these cases.

I would never applaud a performance I don't like. If it was an appalling performance and people had started booing I would join in.

I would never be so rude as to leave the theater or to boo but I would not clap this applies also to a work that I did not enjoy.

I think I would just not clap, but I have to admit that I dislike the concert hall atmosphere and would rather not attend enough concerts to discover my actual stance on booing.

Has no one heard of 'polite applause'?

I'm quite sure that performers recognize it.

Originally Posted by ComposerOfAvantGarde

I would never applaud a performance I don't like. If it was an appalling performance and people had started booing I would join in.

If no one boos, what do you do then? I'm asking all of you whether you are brave enough to start the booing. (I'm too chicken, by the way)

I would never boo because I'm chicken too. And I'm afraid of those old ladies who look at you with the look that could cut a watermelon in half... When I don't like a preformance I make a very special facial ("This is so disgusting!") expression and I stare at the preformer. I don't clap. And if someone gets too excited, I give him/her the look that cuts watermelons in half.

Originally Posted by ComposerOfAvantGarde

I would never applaud a performance I don't like. If it was an appalling performance and people had started booing I would join in.

You don't boo anyone not even Nigel Kennedy instead you give them the "polite clap" when they hear how meager the applause are they will know and be ashamed. However I have never had to use the polite clap even if the performance was below par I have always been entertained and thus feel the need to show my appreciation.

These days due to my life at the moment I don't get out to see as many young people or groups. I tend to stick to people I've seen before or know they are fairly consistent which may also factor into my opinion.

Edit:

Sorry Hilly for repeating your post I didn't read the whole thread before posting.

I've got to admit, I'm a polite clapper. But everyone who knows me knows I can't hide facial expressions.

I clap

I smile at people I don't like, compromise my opinions at the first sign of trouble, don't tell people the truth because it might offend them... What's the difference?

I still politely clap to Beethoven performances, sometimes I even smile, but inside I'm thinking, "Thank goodness it's over."

The idea of applause is to show appreciation of the people on stage, so I don't think one should withhold applause when one doesn't like the music, if the performance was good enough. If the composer comes on stage, that's the time to stop clapping, surely.

I remember hearing about the premiere of one of Arnold Bax's symphonies (can't remember which one). The audience cheered and clapped for the performance, then booed for the work itself.

I would give a meager applause ... after all, the musician did spend (probably) enormous amounts of time in preparation for the piece, and that accomplishment should be awarded.

Most professional performers will knows whether he or she did well ... When I am performing, I know if I nailed it not. I am my own worst critic.

Everyone has those bad days ... a cold, or allergies, can affect the musicians performance ... unfortunately, we, as performers, cannot predict when we are going to feel ill or be in a bad mood before we set the date for a performance.

Kh ♫