A day behind the Salzburg statistics, Glyndebourne has announced 96 percent attendances over 76 performances this summer, which is four percent up on breakeven and a remarkable achievement for the marketing team in a season of corporate swine flu.

Next year will feature a new Billy Budd and Don Giovanni – plans here – and an expansion of the company’s cinema screenings.

So far, none of the fat-cat music festivals has suffered the effects of recession. But most are booked early in the year and the real test of their resilience will come in 2010.