GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, September 20, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Sophie Florinetti is an avid listener to classical music who enjoys attending classical concerts and operas. It is this love for the classical music community that drew her to an article featured in The Guardian. This article takes an in-depth look at classical concert etiquette and begs the question, "Who says classical music must be enjoyed in silence?" Spotlighted in the article is Kate Molleson, a fellow lover of classical music. She writes that when friends who are unfamiliar with "classical concert etiquette" join her at a concert she reassures them that "a concert needs no dress code, no specific handshake. But there are unspoken rules."

According to Kate Molleson, the Edinburg International festival recently received a lot of attention because of the loud noise made by the audience. The report adds, "Audience etiquette is a slippery thing. The reverence with which we expect to hear Mozart today is world's away from what Mozart himself would have expected - and, strictly speaking, a proper period performance should also include the food, drink, gossip and hoots of a rowdy 18th-century crowd alongside all those gut strings and natural horns. But the cult of the 19th-century genius [Wagner was among the first to decree attentive listening] and the background silence of 20th-century recording studios have shushed our listening habits into pin-drop quiet."

Sophie Florinetti weighs in on today's response to classical performances, noting that audience noise should not seem intrusive, but that many classical music fans believe it is an appropriate way to engage. "The classical music community is going to give mixed messages on classical concert etiquette, but it's important to assess how much we, as audience members, should really care about coughs, applause between movements, and mobile phones," said Sophie Florinetti. "Perhaps our concerns over those things are more disruptive than the actual rowdy crowd response."

Kate Molleson seems to agree, adding that she is the last person to advocate stuffiness in the concert hall: "There's nothing more grim than the tut-tuts of an officious crowd. Such a response alienates those not in the know - and if our aim is to welcome new listeners to the fold, we can't make them feel daft when they get there."

At the same time, both Molleson and Florinetti concur that careless noise is bothersome and distracting to great music. Robin Ticciati, principal conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and future music director of Glyndebourne, shares his pragmatic view. "True silence is something special to be celebrated," he said. "And yes, hearing a mobile phone is irritating. But I can't let that kind of thing impact my performance. And we shouldn't be too uptight here - what if that phone belongs to someone who has never been to a concert before and was so excited they forgot to turn it off?" Sophie Florinetti believes the most important aspect of audience etiquette is to really listen with reverence to the beauty of the music.

ABOUT:

Sophie Florinetti is a classical music lover and a hard-working mother of two who has amassed an impressive skill set as a professional woman. She used her educational background to further her career - using her master's degree in political science and political economics as a foundation for a wide number of career paths. Throughout her extensive career, she has also enjoyed exploring the world and plans to continue traveling more now that her children are grown.