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

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

Mozart often wrote to his family that certain variations or sections of pieces were so successful that they had to be encored immediately, even without waiting for the entire piece to end.

The sheer force of the music calls for a wild audience reaction.

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

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

Pianists don't argue too much generally because we have a hard enough time just getting things right. Arguing is for string players.