2 concertgoers mix it up at symphony

CHICAGO, March 10 (UPI) -- A performance of Brahms' Symphony No. 2 in D Major in Chicago was disrupted this week when two concert-goers in box seats got into a fight, police said.

Ricardo Muti was conducting the Chicago Symphony at Orchestra Hall Thursday night when the argument got physical toward the end of the second movement, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

"We heard a rather loud thump," said Steve Robinson, general manager of WFMT-FM, Chicago, which has a classical and folk music format. "It wasn't so loud that everyone jumped up and ran for the exits."

Police said the alleged victim, a man in his 60s, reported being struck several times by a man several decades younger. By the time officers got to the box, the alleged perpetrator was gone.

Robinson, who was in the audience, said Muti handled the situation gracefully.

"Mind you, he never stopped conducting," Robinson said. "He very gracefully, without missing a beat -- literally -- he brought it to a very quiet and subdued close, while still looking over his left shoulder."

Police said the fight started with an argument about seats in a box at the theater, the newspaper reported.