Your first classical concert

Arrive about half an hour early: there is a cloakroom, a foyer where you can have a drink before the concert and at the interval, and many halls offer a short introduction to the music before the concert.

The orchestra comes on stage and tunes to an A from the oboe. Then the concertmaster, the leader of the violins, walks on to applause, the conductor follows, and the hall goes quiet.

Most evening concerts start at 7:30 or 8 p.m. and last about two hours, with an interval of about twenty minutes. At many halls latecomers are only let in at an interval.

A symphony or concerto has several movements with short pauses between them. Most audiences stay silent in those pauses and clap at the end of the whole piece, when the conductor lowers their arms.

Nobody minds if you clap too early, and after a thrilling first movement some audiences do. At the opera you can applaud after a big aria; in a recital you can wait for the musician to lower their instrument.

Not sure? Wait for the people around you, then clap as long as you like. If an evening thrilled you, feel free to shout "Bravo".

Wear whatever you would wear to a nice dinner, or to the office. Jeans are fine everywhere; you will see suits and dresses next to sneakers.

Premieres, galas and New Year's Eve concerts are a little dressier, but even there nobody is turned away for their clothes.

Buy from the hall's box office, the orchestra's own website or the ticket seller it links to. Resale sites often charge more than face value and add their own fees.

Pupils and students pay much less. Many orchestras and opera houses also sell returns for less shortly before a concert; ask at the box office.

At some halls your ticket also works as a public transport ticket on the day of the concert (a "KombiTicket"). Check the ticket or ask the hall before you buy a fare.

Free concerts are everywhere once you know where to look: conservatoires, church organ recitals with a donation box at the door and, in summer, concerts in the open air.

Student and faculty concerts at the conservatoires in Leipzig, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Essen, Cologne and Münster often cost nothing or very little.

Family concerts are short, often an hour or less, and made for kids, with a story, a host and an age range on the ticket.

For regular evening concerts, check the hall's age advice; kids who can sit still for forty minutes usually enjoy a matinee with a famous piece.

The big concert halls have wheelchair spaces, often with a seat for a companion, and lifts. Book these through the box office rather than online.

Many halls lend hearing aids and assistive listening devices; ask at the box office or the cloakroom.

Many concert halls are in the middle of town and easy to reach by bus and train: the Gewandhaus is on Augustusplatz in Leipzig, the Kölner Philharmonie next to the cathedral, the Semperoper on Theaterplatz in Dresden.

Evening concerts usually end between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. Check how you will get home before the concert; the last train often leaves earlier than you think.