Valerie Scher writes in the San Diego Union-Tribune about the tendency of audiences to give standing ovations much more often than they're deserved, a situation she calls EOS, "excessive ovation syndrome." She writes:
She thinks the problem is in proportion to the ticket price, because people who paid a lot of money want to think they got value for it. I wonder, though, whether this isn't more of the feel-good culture in which we want to reward people just for effort.
As concertgoers, we must ask ourselves: Is this performance so exceptional that it merits a special response? Is this truly an event in which mere applause isn't enough?
Too often in our culture, ovations are knee-jerk responses before heading for the exits, push-button reactions rather than genuine outpourings of pleasure.
The danger is that ovations will become so routine that they'll hardly mean anything at all. Their worth will be devalued; their excitement, seriously diminished. What was once a high point of concert-going will become humdrum.
So let's fight EOS together. With enough determination, we can win. All it takes is staying in our seats.
3 comments:
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At least routine ovations would not be misinterpreted by seasoned performers who develop an uncanny 'sixth sense' for an audience's energy.
I have an interesting addendum to this story.
I was in London this summer and had the opportunity to go to the Royal Academy Chorus/Orchestra performance of Bach's Mass in B Minor, conducted by Trevor Pinnock; the concert was sold out. The performance was excellent - very, very well done. In the U.S., it would have been a performance that would have been followed by a standing ovation from the entire audience, likely very quickly. Here? In a sold out concert in Christ Church, maybe 20 scattered people in the balcony gave a standing ovation. Maybe 20.
I was, frankly, surprised. I'm not one to give standing ovations if not deserved (which usually leaves me looking like a crotchety old man when the rest of the room is standing, but that's okay), but this concert was very well performed. So, is the "EOS" an American phenomenon?
(Another thing I noticed at this concert... no one came late...stumbling down the aisle, no crinkly mint wrappers were heard, not one cell phone went off, there was no uncontrolable HACKING like the bubonic plague had descended, and not one infant cried. It was heaven.)
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