MUSIC

Quiet, Please!: It’s a conductor’s nightmare: The orchestra is in the middle of a moving passage when suddenly, a member of the audience lets out a hacking cough. According to conductors at 21 orchestras surveyed by the Warner-Lambert Co. about noisy disturbances during performances, it happens too often. Nineteen of the 23 conductors who answered the survey said they have been distracted by audience noises while conducting. Coughers are the worst, they said. Talking and yammering youngsters were problems No. 2 and 3 on the most distracting sounds listed in the survey completed last week.