Those who attend concerts expect the music to be loud, and classical music is no exception. Listeners expect a certain level of excitement from a performance, but in light of these expectations, are conductors and musical directors under too much pressure to deliver an earsplitting performance? If so, what becomes of the musicians who are immersed in the potentially harmful sound on a daily basis?

A recent lawsuit in the UK involving Chris Goldscheider, a former viola player for the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, is suing the ROH claiming they are responsible for his career-ending hearing damage. A renowned musician, Goldscheider had a storied career that took him to places across the globe, from playing with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic to Kylie Minogue to the Three Tenors front of more than 100,000 people in Barcelona prior to joining the Royal Opera House in 2002.

After a performance of Wagner’s Valkyrie, during which the brass instruments directly behind him in the orchestra pit reached dangerously high decibel levels, Goldscheider suffered irreversible hearing damage in the form of an immediate and permanent threshold shift. Almost immediately, Goldscheider was rendered unable to tolerate the sound of his own instrument, which he had been playing since the age of 4. Diagnosed with acoustic shock, symptoms of which include tinnitus and hypersensitivity to sound, his once shining career came to an end. Unable to work, he was forced to sell his house.

The Royal Opera House thus far has denied responsibility. And according to Goldscheider’s lawyer Chris Fry, part of the Royal Opera House’s defense is the claim that the social value of the performance means that potential damage to players’ hearing is an acceptable risk. Please visit our blog for more on this issue.

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