Go ahead and clap between movements if you want to. Violinist Joshua Bell says he doesn't mind. Of course, this is a guy who has twice played in Washington D.C.'s Union Station, so he's not your usual classical music purist. (The first time he played in Union Station was in 2007, Bell was incognito and none of the rush-hour commuters recognized him or his playing. The second time, earlier this year, Bell's appearance was announced and throngs of fans crowded into the station.)
Bell says he isn't bothered when audience members clap between movements (a serious faux pas in the classical music world), but he's less forgiving about fans who jump in at the end of a solemn piece to begin clapping. "That I do mind," he told us recently, speaking in a phone interview from his home in New York. "Sometimes there needs to be a beat after the last note, a little time to let it hang in the air."
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