ArtsWatch

At the start of the Philadelphia Orchestra's "opening night" Saturday (I use quotation marks since by Saturday the orchestra was well into its 109th season) president James Undercofler made note of the two big image screens above stage. The idea is for cameras to catch close-ups and action of the orchestra for visually oriented audience members.
The orchestra has been doing this off and on for a decade, but this season is adding screens to the concert experience more often.
People either love them or hate them, Undercofler told the audience.
Actually, there's at least one other camp: people who don't feel strongly about them one way or the other but wish they were used more smartly.
As Saturday's concert showed, the screens might add an extra layer of understanding when a camera zooms in on a soloist's hands, as was often the case when Martha Argerich played.
But there were other moments when shots were switched so quickly they actually drew attention away from the thing they were supposed to be spotlighting (not to mention the sound of the music). The director makes the decisions about what gets seen, and it's the director who should be aware that images for an audience in the concert hall serve a different purpose than images being watched at home on TV. It's a distinct presentation, and one that demands less movement, less switching from shot to shot.
I tend to look away from the screens. I spend enough of my day multitasking as it is. In the case of Argerich especially, I have my fill of the experience just listening to her playing.
Will we have to call the Philadelphia Orchestra audience viewers rather than listeners from now on?