First-night nerves at 'The Egg'

In the past two years, the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA), nicknamed "The Bubble", has become my favorite theater - and a place that makes me nervous.

I love it because it presents almost the best indoor shows in the capital every season. I am nervous when I attend performances there because of the endless loud coughs and passionate applause between movements at a classical concert.

The more I attend such concerts, the more I feel embarrassed. I'm upset whenever a renowned conductor, say Claudio Abbado or Mariss Jansons, holds their baton poised in the air, waiting for silence, to start the next movement.