Audience members shout in distain after clapping ruins Hong Kong Festival concert.

The sentiment of appreciation and adulation signified by rapturous applause is universally understood the world over. However the dos and don’ts of clapping etiquette can be quite variable depending on where in the world you are. One audience member attending the opening concert of the 43rd Hong Kong Arts Festival last Friday at the city’s Cultural Centre Concert Hall, fell foul of his own over enthusiastic response to a performance by the Staatskapelle Dresden under the baton of Christian Thielemann, which provoked an angry response from his fellow concertgoers.

As the revered orchestra and their maestro neared the end of Richard Strauss’ beautiful lament for string ensemble, Metamorphosen, which closes on a bleak and desolately quiet C minor chord, a member of the audience broke out in applause, to the apparently visible disapproval of Thielemann and the orchestra. As the auditorium lights faded-up to indicate the interval, another audience member unhappy about the disturbed final cadence of the piece shouted, “Get out, you get out,” at the offending patron. A third audience member was similarly moved to demand the exit of the thoughtless clapper, and joined the...