We seem to have set up some very arcane rules as to when it is actually OK to applaud.

Applause should be an emotional response to the music, rather than a regulated social duty.

All of us love applause, and so we should - it means that the listener likes us!

I have been trying to find out exactly when listeners and performers decided that applause between movements would not be allowed, but nobody seems to have been willing to admit that they were the culprit.

We should welcome applause whenever it comes.

It is wonderful to see how happy all my friends in the LA Philharmonic are in their new home.

When one plays a Steinway, there is a warmth and nobility in the sound that is unequalled by any other instrument.