I HAVE BEEN going to the marvellous series of Beethoven -
concerts Otto Klemperer has been giving at the Festival Hall with the Philharmonic Orchestra. The series ends tonight, so I suppose the point 1 want to make is an academic one; nevertheless, I think it is worth making. The applause at the end of each concert has been, not unnaturally, considerable; it has been marred, however, by the activities of a noisy and man- nerless gang in the seats behind the orchestra who, after Dr. Klemperer has been recalled for half-a-dozen or more `curtains,' have insisted on recommencing the applause and bringing him back again. Apart from the fact that this sort of vulgarity can in n.o way add to the gratitude al- ready expressed by the audiences for Dr. Klemperer's rich and moving interpretations, this conductor is a sick and elderly man, who has'to hobble, clearly in pain, on and off the platform every time he is recalled. Some of these people, incidentally, add to their grossly discourteous behaviour by leaning over the bar which separates audience from the platform and waving their hands about (apparently under the impression that they are 'conducting') during the perfor- mances. And while I am on the subject, I actually heard, after one of the concerts, somebody whistle.
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