Después de una inusual tormenta de silbatos y abucheos en el Metropolitan Opera House de Nueva York, Terry Teachout se pregunta por qué no ocurre más a menudo y si debería ocurrir más a menudo. ¿Soy el único que, sin parar de aplaudir, en varias ocasiones se ha preguntado si los actores o músicos realmente merecían cuatro rondas de aplausos?
What happened to Ms. Zimmerman, while not unprecedented, is highly unusual. To be sure, booing at the opera house is far from uncommon elsewhere in the world, especially in Italy, but American audiences are reluctant to express their displeasure vocally. I've heard a certain amount of booing at the Met, but I can't recall ever hearing a single boo at a Broadway show, a classical concert, a dance performance or a nightclub gig.
Is this a good thing? I'm not so sure -- especially when you consider what usually happens at the end of a Broadway show. Most of the theatrical performances I see in New York receive standing ovations. Time was when audiences reserved that special gesture for a performance of equally special merit, but in recent years it has become a near-reflexive response to anything short of a crash-and-burn disaster. The most popular explanation for this phenomenon is the increasingly high cost of theater tickets, the assumption being that playgoers stand up to help persuade themselves that the show they just saw was worth what they paid to see it. Whatever the reason, though, standing ovations are now the rule, not the exception.
It goes without saying that the frequency of standing ovations devalues their significance. As Gilbert and Sullivan put it in "The Gondoliers," When everyone is somebodee/Then no one's anybody! Just as important, it also points to a lack of true engagement on the part of the spectators.
Tyler Cowen también hace su aportación al debate vinculando la magnanimidad del público con la señalización.
Nota: este fin de semana estaré en Barcelona con familia y amigos, y aprovecharé para ver un poco de tenis en la previa del Godó. No creo que actualice el blog hasta el martes de la semana que viene.
