A while back I spent a minute offering a few suggestions of what to say after a concert when the concert was really pretty bad, but the performer is someone you know and you have to say something. In the unfortunate event that you’ve already used up your store of useful phrases, I thought I’d suggest a few more.
The easiest thing to say is a always a simple “Bravo.” But of course it’s a little too easy – and whenever someone has only said “bravo” to me after one of my concerts I’ve always been suspicious.
A good thing to try is avoidance by misdirection, as in,
“Mozart! Don’t you think it’s the clarity that makes him so difficult?” … or, “I just love Schubert. And he died so young.”
And when all else fails there’s always “wow.” Either alone, as in, “Wow!”… or in combination, as in
“Wow, what a challenging program!” or
“Wow, you must be exhausted!” Or my very favorite:
“Wow, you did it.”
This has been A Minute with Miles – a production of South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by the J.M. Smith Corporation.
