If there were no rules about when to applaud, we in the audience would have the right response almost always.

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.

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

If there were no rules about when to applaud, we in the audience would have the right response almost always.

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

I think competition in any kind of activity like music, art, literature - anything that's not done with a timer - is actually impossible. So, in effect, what you're doing is you're entering the lottery. You're hoping that you play well (and that) you play your best on the day that you're heard, and you're hoping that the people who are judging will like what you do.

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