Woodland Herbs Delight Me

Today I attended the "Prokofiev: Teachers, Inspirations and Contemporaries" concert at the 92nd Street Y. It was my first visit to this famous NYC venue.

As is usually the case when I attend an opera, ballet, or classical music concert, the audience was composed almost entirely of elderly people. There was a group of three sitting in front of me: two men and a woman. All of them spoke with an Eastern European accent.

The men were wearing hearing aids and spoke at a high volume. The man in the middle sighed and grunted particularly loudly as the hall hushed and we waited for the pianist to begin playing. I wondered if the noise amused or annoyed her.

Members of New York audiences do not let infractions of decorum go unnoticed. I witnessed a Film Forum audience drive a woman out of the theater for using a cell phone during a movie. It makes me wonder whether New York audiences are composed of unusually cranky people or whether New Yorkers are just particularly unnerved by cellophane-wrapped cough drop consumers.

The man sitting in front of me would have been mortified if he knew how disruptive he was. It was obvious that he couldn't hear himself clearly. He was outraged when latecomers sat beside him. "Next time, arrive promptly!" he hissed loudly as they sat down. The entire hall could hear his admonishment.

Ironically, his male companion was energetically silent. As each performance closed, he raised his hands above his head with fingers splayed and clapped wildly. He resembled a giant two year old applauding his own accomplishment, except his hands moved so swiftly they were a blur. In spite of his effort, his hands made no sound.

Much of the beautiful music was written to accompany awful poetry. When I glanced at the program, my eyes rested on the line, "woodland herbs delight me." I suppose many of the insipid lines were written by society women confined to polite expressions of violent feelings they only imagined feeling.

What will happen to these art forms when this generation of elderly New Yorkers is gone?