Interrupted concert

[dormouse1953]

I was at a concert of French music from the early part of the twentieth century tonight, and the second half of the concert started with Ravel's Introduction and Allegro for Harp, String Quartet, Flute and Clarinet (a product of the harp wars in France over a century ago).  In the middle of the harp cadenza at the centre of the work, there was a loud cry of "Stop it!" from the back of the hall.  Heads turned round but the musicians continued playing.  However, it was not long before there was another cry, a loud scream this time.  This continued for a while until it was decided to halt the performance until the trouble had been sorted out.

There was a young blind man in the seats toward the rear of the hall who appeared to be having some sort of psychotic episode, jumping up and down, waving his arms around, swearing at people.  Eventually he calmed down enough for him to be led from the hall, the players came back on stage and started again from the cadenza.

(The final work on the programme was Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals with the Ogden Nash narration performed by Samuel West in a suit apparently made of giraffe skin.)