One of the good things about getting back to London on occasion is to be able to go, as hubby and I just did, to a concert and listen to classical music without a running commentary. In America in my experience, you see, it's quite normal for someone to come on and introduce the musicians, then for the musicians to introduce their music. Each piece of music that is. And since one American trait that I've noticed is a great fondness for talking, they often use the opportunity to go on at great and tedious length. Or they make a string of bad jokes. All this implies that the audience a) can't read the programme (or have mislaid their specs) and/or b) are a couple of apples short of a picnic. This is unfair to American music- lovers, who, after all, have some of the greatest orchestras and classical music venues in the world. But having said that, they do do a lot of encores. Americans going to concerts in Britain, where the music does the talking, must be a little confused - or perhaps relieved.
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