Danes in uproar over maestro who missed the opera

At 7.20 at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen, musicians asked if anyone had seen the conductor.

At 7.30, the start-time, the orchestra were all tuned up in the pit and still no sign of a maestro.

A flak announced from the stage that there were ‘technical problems’.

At 8pm someone in the audience shouted, ‘Is there no management at all in this house?’.

Members of the Royal Danish Orchestra shouted back ‘No!’.

Malene Truelsen, head of admin and a non-musician, called in and ordered the concertmaster to start the performance. It broke down in the overture, with brass players complaining they received no cue.

Moments later the designated conductor burst in and took over.

We have withheld his name, but we understand the conductor issued a full apology later, saying he had mistaken the time zone.

C’est la vie.