This is an emergency alarm. Please leave the hall immediately by the nearest exit.

Well, we've done our last concert of the season - the opera gala - and it was great fun. It went very well and I really enjoyed it. There was all sorts of excitement though. The first was that we were told at the piano rehearsal, a few days earlier, that both the soloists had cancelled. We do have a bit of a curse on soloists, as most of you know, but 100% cancellation is still quite rare! I think one of them was ill, but the reason for the cancellation of the other one was a bit of a surprise - I'd better not say it here though. But the soloists we DID get were great. The tenor was John Hudson, who we've sung with before, but new to us was a great Italian soprano called Maria Luigia Borsi. We liked her a lot - the best part was that it was obvious she was really enjoying herself. I hope we meet her again. (It turns out she only made her UK debut earlier this year. Here's a Classical Source interview with her, and another from the Arts Desk.)

Another bit of excitement was that the fire alarm went off just before the second half started! I've never known that happen before. The orchestra and choir were already on stage, but the conductor hadn't come on yet. So the whole crowd of performers and audience had to go outside (luckily it wasn't raining) and hang around for twenty minutes till we got the all-clear. It turned out to have been a false alarm - the manager came out to make an announcement, and mentioned that it had gone off during a rehearsal the previous day as well. Luckily none of the audience left, as far as I could see, and nothing was cut from the programme, although it did finish pretty late. A lot of people had to dash out as soon as the concert ended, and so missed the encore (which was Brindisi), but the ones who stayed gave us a standing ovation. Very satisfying!

I must say I really enjoyed working with our guest choral director for the last few weeks - I'd love it if he became the permanent one, although I know he has lots of other commitments and may not have time to take us on as well. But my fingers are crossed.

I haven't seen any reviews of the opera gala (or any of the other Manchester proms), which is disappointing - have I missed any?

Other news directly relevant to us: the Independent admits that the Bridgewater Hall is still the best concert hall in the country.

And 4 Bars Rest (a brass band website) has an audio interview with our principal trumpeter. (The site was down when I just checked it, but it should be back up soon. And you have to register to hear the interview, but it's quick - and free.)

A friend asked me the other day whether it's true that we're doing The Planets next season. I told her it is (it's on my birthday, so I could even tell her the date without checking), but it was only when I looked on the hall's website to see whether the tickets are on sale yet that I discovered that it's not just a normal Planets performance - the music will be accompanied by NASA images! That's a first for us. And my friend called the box office and was told that it was already nearly sold out, so if you want to get tickets I'd do so now.

A few people have asked me whether I've heard from Dr Liz in Australia, and I have... but you can read her reports yourself, at her blog. So far she hasn't met any ninjas, though, despite living near the scene of this fantastic story!

I'm not having the best of weeks myself - I was burgled the other day, while I was in the house. It was my own fault - I fell asleep with the back door slightly open. I don't think they can have been in the house more than a few seconds, because everything that was taken was within sight of the door... but one of those things was my oboe, which I've had for more than thirty years. I am distraught about this. And needless to say nothing was insured, because I haven't been able to afford insurance premiums for the last year or so. Typical - I paid insurance for years and never got burgled, and as soon as it lapsed they took my oboe!

Anyway, I have a million links to share with you, so let's got on with them.

From the Guardian (mostly from Tom Service): someone performed all nine Beethoven symphonies in one day in London a couple of weeks ago; the Go Compare tenor got himself in trouble on Twitter; there is new advice from the C of E about whether or not it's OK to sing Jerusalem at weddings (more details here); there's a Charles Mackerras obituary (and here's another, from BBC Music Magazine, and one from On an Overgrown Path); there's a pianist who showed off at the Cheltenham Festival by reading the score from his iPad, but Tom Service is very doubtful about this, and (having read the report) so am I; Simon Callow reviews the latest book by Charles Rosen, which sounds amazing (I haven't read that one, obviously, but I've read several of his others, and they're great); there is some uncertainty over the origin of the song Cockles and Mussels; applause between movements is becoming more popular; apparently the Wagner sisters have ended their feud (I didn't know there was one!); here's a nice article about silence (and the lack of it) in today's world; there's a useful list of the best live arts websites; an article about barbershop singing in the UK; I haven't seen any films this year, let alone Inception, but if you have seen it (certainly everyone I know is talking about it) you may be interested to know that the entire soundtrack is very cleverly based on one Edith Piaf song (Je Ne Regrette Rien); they examine why Bach's music is so suitable for being adapted; and why Andris Nelsons is so great with the CBSO (I'm very much looking forward to being conducted by him next month).

Vuvuzelas are still in the news: both the Guardian and the BBC report about various Premier League clubs banning them. What annoys me about this is that no-one is talking about banning air horns, which are much louder and (to me, at least) more annoying. They're certainly on sale at all the stalls outside Old Trafford, and I assume the same is true at other clubs - and more than once I've been temporarily deafened by a kid blowing one near me. (It's worst when they do it on the tram - took my ears quite a while to recover last time that happened.) I asked RNID, on Twitter, why they are making a fuss about vuvuzelas but not air horns, and they said they'd ask their campaigns team and get back to me, but they haven't yet. (I know the answer - it's obviously because there's a publicity bandwagon for vuvuzelas that there isn't for air horns, and their resources are limited - but in terms of damage to hearing, air horns are worse.)

Also from the BBC: they now have a player commentary facility for the Proms; Grimethorpe Colliery Brass Band have their first female player; music can help athletic performance; there's an obituary for David Fanshawe (I've only ever heard his African Sanctus, but I love that - it's one of those pieces that absolutely intrigued me when I heard it on the radio, years ago, and I had to go out and buy it); there's also an obituary for Anthony Rolfe Johnson; and I quite like this article about the First Night of the Proms, in which someone asks the organist how much they'd have to pay him to play an E major chord at the start of Mahler 8 (instead of E flat). That would be the funniest thing ever! Pity no-one paid him enough :-) (Which reminds me... if you're on Twitter and you're not following the Royal Albert Hall Organ, you should. He's hilarious. Sample tweet: "First notes of #bbcproms 2010 played by ME! Wasn't I great?")

Classical Iconoclast has a nice post about the silliness of the Proms, and another one about three of the lesser-known soloists in the Die Meistersinger prom. Intermezzo has a review of the same prom, and they both mention the role of the Nightwatchman, which had already been highlighted by On an Overgrown Path. I was fascinated by this - I'd never heard about this role before. Sadly I was only half-watching the prom when it was on, and I missed that bit! But no doubt I'll see it one day.

Peter Phillips wonders, in the Spectator, why there is such disparity between choirs and orchestras.

Stephen Hough has some more practice tips: use a blue pencil and don't always warm up.

The Kings of Leon had to abandon a gig recently due to being bombarded by pigeon poo.

Some Manchester news: I visited the new temporary City Library last week, and was quite impressed. It's bigger than I was expecting (particularly the music room on the top floor) and is very pleasant. It has a LOT of computers for public use, and even a big screen TV (with the sound off, of course) which was showing football when I went in, although I soon realised that it was actually on the BBC News channel, but there was a football story on the news. Most importantly, the music library has a decent bit of floor space, so I'm hopeful that they'll be able to have their Christmas Music Day despite having moved home. The only slightly sad thing was that the librarians no longer stamp the books! There are electronic scanners for you to use to take books out, and you get a printed receipt telling you when they're due back. I think I'd be quite upset if I was a librarian!

But what reminded me to mention that was that Manchester Confidential has details of the refurbishments to the OLD Central Library, and very interesting they are too. Most importantly, it sounds as if my favourite bit of the building will remain intact, which I'm relieved about.

Also, next weekend Piccadilly Gardens will become a giant picnic area.

A few random things to finish off. Firstly, recent events have reminded me that there are still people who never back up any of their computer stuff. If you're one of them, and you've been lucky so far, here are some suggestions from TV writer James Moran - one of them might persuade you.

If you have lots of time to waste at work, you might like this: the Guardian's list of the greatest Internet-based sports games.

Football fans among you will have heard about the new rules regarding how many non-English players teams can have, but if (like me) the exact details of this had bypassed you, you might find the BBC's explanation helpful.

Next week is Perseid Meteor Maximum. I'll probably post again before then to tell you more about that, but in case I don't, here's some info from Universe Today.

Talking of astronomy, I'm sure you're aware of the fabulous Astronomy Picture of the Day website, which I've mentioned many times before, but my favourite recent picture of theirs is actually earth-based: lightning storm in Athens. Amazing!

And I can't talk about great photos without the latest highlights from The Big Picture: the close of the World Cup; a collection of recent stormy skies; and two sets from the Tour de France (part 1 and part 2).

Don't die of shock if there's a new post in the next day or two - I'm currently uploading something that I wanted to mention, but it's not finished uploading yet. As soon as it is, I'll post to tell you about it!