When to clap in a concert?

After observing the irony that regular SSO concert goers knows something about the social norms of applauding only when the work ended, while the audience of the expensive New York Philharmonic concert yesterday would clap at the end of every movement, whether or not it warrants an emotional response to that, Pauline found an interesting remark from the soloist Emanuel Ax himself:

emanuelax.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/when-to-applaud

I really hope we can go back to the feeling that applause should be an emotional response to the music, rather than a regulated social duty. I am always a little taken aback when I hear the first movement of a concerto which is supposed to be full of excitement, passion, and virtuoso display (like the Brahms or Beethoven Concertos), and then hear a rustling of clothing, punctuated by a few coughs; the sheer force of the music calls for a wild audience reaction. On the other hand, sometimes I wish that applause would come just a bit later, when a piece like the Brahms 3rd Symphony comes to an end – it is so beautifully hushed that I feel like holding my breath in the silence of the end. I think that if there were no “rules” about when to applaud, we in the audience would have the right response almost always. Most composers trust their listeners to respond at the right time, and if we feel like expressing approval, we should be allowed to, ANYTIME!

The fact that he nodded his head to acknowledge the audience’s applause at the end of the 1st movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 signifies this intention of his. But Alan Gilbert’s ignorance of the meek clapping between the 3rd and 4th movements of Beethoven’s 7th symphony perhaps show a more traditional social etiquette about the audience’s response.

The customer is always right? What if there were 1600 of them?