An inexperienced operagoer gets a resounding hiss if he applauds at a wrong moment.
But many an operagoer has been dissatisfied with the cuts and the production in general.
The evenings can grow long at Germany's Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, and many an operagoer has cast a furtive glance at his watch as the Teutonic roll and tumble thundered on.
William Finn in St. Petersburg Times Mark was a political activist of sorts, an operagoer and great friend,Finn says. "He was seminal in my life. He introduced me to the guy I've lived with for 27 years."