Intermezzo

Festival finder

What a brilliant idea.

Click on the interactive version of the above map to find opera and classical music festivals all over Europe this summer.

Classical coughing - a guide

Professor Jürgen Lamprecht is an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor in Germany. He's also a big classical music fan.

Like every regular concertgoer, he's a bit fed up with the various sonic disturbances that punctuate the typical night out. So, combining his professional and recreational interests, he's created a 'Cough Culture' website, which includes an etiquette guide to coughing in concerts.

He stresses it's not a rule book. "Anyone who coughs has a reason," he says - a cough is an involuntary reflex that can't be easily suppressed or controlled. Instead he is setting out to help the afflicted manage their coughs "with understanding and humour".

He splits his tips into three parts - location, timing and volume.

1 - Where? If you're really sick, says Professor Lamprecht, give up your ticket, stay home, and don't spread your germs. If you must go, and you know there's a good chance you'll cough, try moving to a seat where you'll disturb fewer people. Ask someone at the very back if they'd like to swap for your seat further forward (I suspect this one works better in Essen than the Royal Festival Hall). If you get caught out by a surprise coughing fit, either try to change places or just leave.

2 - When? If you can't suppress a cough until the end of the show, then at least wait for a round of applause . The next best choice is during a very loud passage - discreetly. It's essential to avoid coughing between two sections of a work. "If there's no applause, it's not a break!" Professor Lamprecht reminds us - something you'd never guess in London, where entire audiences hack away between movements with impunity, whether they're ill or not. The other time to avoid coughing is during very quiet passages. 

3 - How loud? If you really must cough, the quieter the better. A big handkerchief  held in front of the mouth helps to dampen the sound.  If you don't have one, cough into your elbow. It muffles the volume and has the added advantage that you won't pass on germs when shaking hands.

Finally, he has a tip for the coughers' victims. Don't hiss and don't protest loudly, he says - it only creates more of a disturbance.

Classical music makes the grass grow

A New Zealand man who grew 287 cannabis plants in his spare room played classical music to encourage them to flourish.

Amongst his $17,000-worth of kit was a radio set to a classical station. He told the police the plants responded better to classical music.

Detective Sergeant Wayne Beattie described the set-up as - wait for it - a "well-orchestrated growing operation".

Rosa Ponselle gets a facelift

This is the statue of soprano Rosa Ponselle on the facade of the I Miller Building in Times Square, where she was chosen to represent opera alongside her fellow stars of stage, screen and musical comedy.  After a recent spruce-up, she's looking almost as good as she did on the day she ascended her pedestal in 1928. Read the full story on ScoutingNY.com.

And the most stressful job in the orchestra is ......

No prizes if you guessed conducting, but the first violins suffer more than most too.

That's according to a new study which examined the stress reactions in conductor and musicians of the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna.

Blood samples taken after a performance showed that the first violinists and the conductor had higher stress indicator levels than all the other musicians put together. 

The musicians' ability to do their job (including health and work situation) had no influence on the results. But a good mood did. The sunnier they felt before the concert, the lower the rise in stress.

So the message to musicians is - cheer up, or switch to flute.

Sophie's choices

Soprano Sophie Bevan gives BBC News her top 10 tips for becoming an opera star.

Or does she? Looks as if someone might have made up a few after reading Sophie's interview. Anyway, here they are:

1. Sing every day

2. Don't record Ave Maria as a child

3. Get a teacher and immerse yourself in the world of opera

4. Don't listen to pop music

5. Throw away your microphone and work hard

6. Be friendly and willing to suck up to those in charge

7. You don't have to look good, but it helps

8. Avoid competitions and don't compare yourself with others

9. Enjoy yourself

10. You have to love it