The New York Times’ reviewers have begun to tally the disruptions-by-cell-phone that seem to have become a fixture of concerts in the city. The latest instances, in performances by Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, as reported by James R. Oestreich (scroll down in the review):
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/19/arts/music/mariss-jansons-leads-the-bavarian-in-berlioz-and-shostakovich.html?ref=music
More pointed comments on the subject, written earlier in the month by Anthony Tommasini:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/05/arts/music/philadelphia-orchestra-performs-at-carnegie-hall.html
I briefly carried a cell phone, but got rid of it because I could barely hear callers and never could figure out how to turn off the thing. A clearly visible on-off switch apparently was too low-tech for the manufacturer. Could that be the problem in New York?
ADDENDUM: Even noisier in Berlin, a member of the audience at a Claudio Abbado memorial concert tells Norman Lebrecht:
http://slippedisc.com/2014/05/disturbances-at-berlins-abbado-memorial-concert/