Hyrule's Miss Manners: Your Guide to Concert Etiquette

So, I've been seeing in some comment sections that a lot of people aren't sure how they should act, or what the cues are for applause, in classical concerts. I grew up around the Ballet, let me pass this along, because feeling out of place and even possibly disrespectful to performers can be the absolute worst. Symphony of the Goddesses would be considered a classical concert: so here you go!

Concert etiquette is particularly strong at concerts featuring music from the Classical tradition, especially those featuring an unamplified orchestra. Such audiences have come to expect quiet, and disapprove of fellow members making any kind of noise louder than light breathing. Unavoidable noise such as coughs or sneezes should be delayed until a loud passage if possible, and muffled with a handkerchief, which is most effective placed at the inner elbow joint with the entire arm then pressed over the mouth. Mobile phones should be turned off for the duration of the concert, and it is increasingly common for an announcement to this effect to be made by venue management before the commencement of the concert.

Concert-goers are expected to arrive and take their seats before the performance commences. The audience waiting for a concert or opera to begin may talk freely until the end of the applause greeting the entrance of the conductor (or the concertmaster if the orchestra tunes on stage). Dress requirements have become less formal in recent decades, corresponding to a general "casualisation" of Western social standards. Some expect that the audience will at least meet "smart casual" standards, but some performance companies and theatres explicitly tell audiences to wear whatever makes them comfortable. Hats are not tolerated as they block the view of the stage.

During the 20th century, applause even between movements of a symphony became regarded as a distraction from its momentum and unity, and is now considered a gaffe or faux pas, though usually tolerated as a well-meaning one; most audiences applaud after the third movement of Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony Pathétique and conductors seem resigned to this fact. As most concert goers are considerate enough to restrain themselves while the musicians are playing, a rise in audience noise may be heard between movements, as people shift in their seats, stretch their legs, release pent-up coughs, blow their noses, pass comments to their neighbours, and enter or leave the hall. The musicians will wait for this noise to die down before continuing the performance.

Audience members who are too eager to applaud at the end of a piece are sometimes resented, particularly in the case of a quiet finale such as Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony. The conductor always signals the end of the performance by lowering his or her hands to his or her sides. Sometimes this is prolonged past the cutoff of the orchestra, with hands held in the air or slowly lowered over several seconds, in the hope of allowing the audience to stay joined with the artistic creation even for just a brief moment after its sounds have ceased.

Upon conclusion of concert performances of substantial dolorous works, particularly sacred vocal works such as settings of the requiem, Passion or mass but also secular works of comparable gravity, it is common for audiences and performers to reflect in a moment of respectful silence or even silent prayer before applauding. Applauding as soon as the instruments and/or singing fall silent is thus frowned upon.

If, in fact, they are telling people at the concerts that they can applaud between pieces, then by all means do! They've probably come to accept that this would be the norm anyway.