ABOUT THOSE CANDY WRAPPERS

We'd like to preface these rules of etiquette by assuring you they're for the benefit of those people behind you. This may be their first venture into the classics, and they may actually welcome some pointers about how they can let you enjoy the music.

Be On Time
Although there are occasions when a late arrival is a sign of class, a concert isn't one of them. Once the music has begun, latecomers will be asked to remain in the lobby until the first suitable break in a performance. (This is true after the intermission, too.)

Don't Shoot.
Cameras are non grata at our indoor concerts. Aside from the fact that the flash distracts musicians and audiences alike, there's nothing louder than a clicking shutter in a concert hall.

About those candy wrappers.
Thanks to the wonderful acoustics in today's concert halls, the sound of crumpling cellophane can be heard by everyone. Plan ahead, pop that hard candy in your mouth before the piece starts.

No buzzes, beeps or rings.
If your watch has an alarm, please turn it off. At the very least arrange for it to buzz during the fortissimo sections. And if you wear a beeper or carry a cellular phone for non-emergency reasons (staying in touch with your stockbroker is one), please disconnect it so that others might enjoy the concert undisturbed.

Never after the 'largo.'
If nobody claps when the piece is over, it probably isn't. Unlike the ballet, where it's acceptable to applaud whenever you like something, at a concert it's considered inappropriate to applaud between movements. But at the end of the complete work, please clap like crazy.

Humming.
Don't. Even if you really do know the whole first movement of Beethoven's Seventh. The people around you probably know it too and would rather hear the orchestra's rendition.

Stay to the end.
You may simply want to avoid the crowds by leaving five minutes early, but the musicians will misconstrue your hasty departure as a sign that you didn't like the music, so you may as well sit back and enjoy every last note.