Thread: funny bloopers or mistakes at concerts

can anyone share here some funny incidents and or bloopers in Orchestra concerts that you have experienced? Be it something funny in the audience or mishaps in the orchestra during a concert.IE broken instrumentsthat were obvious.

Before my time, I WASN'T there, believe it or not!

Fritz Kreisler and Sergei Rachmaninov giving a duo-recital in the late 1930's. They are in the middle of the Beethoven "Kreutzer" Sonata. Kreisler has a temporary memory loss, backs up to the piano, whispers to Rachmaninov: "Where are we?"

"Carnegie Hall," Rachmaninov whispers back.

One I WAS involved in. Accompanying the Brahms "Zigeunerlieder" with a very accomplished baritone at a recital, some years back--it was the last set of a very demanding recital for both of us. Everything going extremely smooth, we get to the last song and I suddenly hear lyrics that I have never heard before. I kept playing, he kept singing. After, the audience rose to their feet, applauding. After the recital I asked the baritone, "What was THAT?" He looked at me sheepishly and said, "I forgot the lyrics. I just conjugated every German verb I could think of."

Tom

Take a look at this. I felt guilty about laughing, but couldn't control myself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAh2BtuHfkw

YouTube is great for this kind of thing. Conductor drops baton:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KW_6Q3Jk-A

Conductor falls off stage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-99JGvWybZc&NR=1

I once went to a Bob Dylan concert in Vancouver, at which he was handed a harmonica that was in the wrong key for the song he was about to sing. When it came time for the harmonica riff he started to blow it, scowled as only he can do, and beckoned the guy to give him the right one. Then he started the song over again.

The show must go on, after all.

Originally Posted by TWhite

He looked at me sheepishly and said, "I forgot the lyrics. I just conjugated every German verb I could think of."

That is brilliant.

I had a friend in High School many years ago who was in the school choir. He never enjoyed singing. He would rebel by deliberatley farting during a performance and caused a hard time for fellow singers.

Originally Posted by Fsharpmajor

Take a look at this. I felt guilty about laughing, but couldn't control myself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAh2BtuHfkw

YouTube is great for this kind of thing. Conductor drops baton:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KW_6Q3Jk-A

Conductor falls off stage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-99JGvWybZc&NR=1

I once went to a Bob Dylan concert in Vancouver, at which he was handed a harmonica that was in the wrong key for the song he was about to sing. When it came time for the harmonica riff he started to blow it, scowled as only he can do, and beckoned the guy to give him the right one. Then he started the song over again.

The show must go on, after all.

The first link was Juan Gabriel the Mexican singer. I believe he got hurt bad in that fall. Not sure what the injuries were.

I think that when he sings he sometimes has a small string orchestra acconying.Now that's classical!!

Originally Posted by h1478971

The first link was Juan Gabriel the Mexican singer. I believe he got hurt bad in that fall. Not sure what the injuries were.

I didn't know who it was, but I've just googled it, and he suffered a concussion and a broken wrist.

I did hear about a British violinist who was walking offstage and tripped. Be broke his( or probably some foundations) priceless Strativarius. Apparently he was going to try to get it repaired. Don't know what happened about the repair.

I saw youtube videos of Jean Christophe Spinosi dropping his baton at two different occasions and at one of the concerts he also poked the soloist accidentally with it. funny.

The only even remotely funny thing I can recall from a concert I've been to was a Christmas concert with an Italian orchestra whose name escapes me, but the fun more due to the fact that it was badly planned - the program had been changed, and during intermission orchestra members handed out leaflets with the "right" program and numerous apologies, however in the 2nd half the program and the pieces played still didn't match. In the end it was laughable.
The conductor also resembled the headwaiter in the Dinner for one film - quite a character! - and he became increasingly grumpy after some people started clapping after the first movement of the first piece. Not a lot of positive energy at that concert....

Originally Posted by Grosse Fugue

I did hear about a British violinist who was walking offstage and tripped. Be broke his( or probably some foundations) priceless Strativarius. Apparently he was going to try to get it repaired. Don't know what happened about the repair.

David Garret? They mention it around 1:20.

This is an account of the London premiere of Strauss's Salome, which didn't go as planned:

Thomas Beecham was a tireless champion of Strauss in the early years of the century, but he ran into trouble when he wished to conduct Salome at Covent Garden. The office of the censor, presided over by the Lord Chamberlain, refused to license the performance on the grounds that it featured a Biblical character, St John the Baptist. On pointing out that Samson et Dalila had been performed while labouring under a similar disadvantage, Beecham was told that Saint-Saëns had had the foresight to feature Old Testament characters, rather than New Testament ones. The opera could be performed only if Beecham agreed to certain alterations in the text, so that John became simply the Prophet and all Salome's expressions of sexual longing for him had to be rendered as requests for spiritual guidance. The necessary changes were made to the German text, to the bewilderment of the imported cast, and all seemed set when it occurred to the censor that, in the last scene of the opera, St John's head is delivered to Salome on a silver platter. An arm or a leg might have been allowed, but not his head; the offending object must remain completely covered by a cloth. All seemed at last to be going well during the premiere, when Beecham noticed with horror that the singers were reverting to the original text, ending with Salome's desire to kiss the lips of the severed head. The Lord Chamberlain was completely satisfied, however: ‘It has been wonderful; we are delighted.’

Quite a few years ago I was listening to a live broadcast of Williams Walton's Partitia for Orchestra. The piece has three movements and, after the first movement ended, someone in the audience began clapping furiously. I don't remember who the conductor was but he then shouted out "Don't leave!" That was a nice and funny way to handle the situation.

You have this precious stone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B68fd8wVzdA

It was on TV, direct. The presenter says "live and exclusive, one of the biggest national stars, Pedro Abrunhosa" (a very famous pop-rock singer).

When he falls, the presenter says "oh ****", and when the singer gets up, says "well... with this, I've already sold plus 10 thousand CDs".

It was a funny situation, and the singer was funny also

Boopers serve a good purpose...You get to judge the "people side"

Regards, John