Ida Haendel, violin

June 3, 1977

I have now heard enough concerts here to realize that this Europe-conscious musical world imitates our bad habits with glee – such as the dimming of the hall for the start, and duration, of the music. The single advantage of this practice is that people have the greatest difficulty in reading the programme notes while the music is playing – but one can’t properly read a score either!

Has our capacity for aural concentration degenerated to such an extent that it needs artificial – i.e. visual – concentration on the stage to exclude incidental impressions? As if the conductor’s antics weren’t the most incidental of the lot! It is he that ought to be dimmed – a practice that would also benefit the orchestral player, who could thus concentrate on the music without distraction – though he would have to learn to count.

see also:

• introduction
• publication details
• illustrated excerpts from the diary
  • April 25, 1977: arriving in Israel
  • June 3, 1977: concert-hall conventions
  • June 22, 1979: a ‘bi-lingual’ state?
  • July 2, 1979: the government of Israel, Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon.
    
    
• the book’s launch event, 17th October 2001
  
  
• Press Release: Royal Philharmonic Society Book of the Year, 2001