My assumption was that there were some people in the audience who thought the symphony was over after the third movement, not that they took it on themselves to applaud before it was over. If you're hearing Mahler's ninth symphony for the first time you might well think that the third movement ends with emphatic finality.
A subtle but significant distinction, I agree. But as a newcomer (and still, thirty years later, with an unfamilar piece) I wouldn't have joined in the applause until it was well established - or, on a tip from an experienced friend, I saw that the conductor had laid down the baton.
I haven't heard Nicholas Kenyon's comments though, and I'm not really very interested in what he has to say, especially after his undignified protestations last year on being confronted with the fact (of which somehow he'd been unaware) that there wasn't a single piece by a woman composer in the entire Proms season.
Personally, I thought Lebrecht was even sillier. He seems to think there should be an announcement before certain works asking the audience to wait until the end before applauding. Who would select these works he didn't say. Utterly daft. But it's a bit mean to criticise Kenyon or Lebrecht when the blame really lies with the editors of 'Today'. Three minutes or so for people to discuss a subject like this is bound to yield more questions than answers.
