It is a hidden, taboo subject, widely known about within the music world but barely discussed. Little research into the area has been done and the full extent of the problem is incompletely understood. But inappropriate use of alcohol in Britain's great orchestras is, according to musicians, endemic - ranging from drinking a pint before a concert to steady the nerves, to full-blown inebriation on stage.

Gives a new meaning to Beethoven's Fifth.

You can't be me, I'm taken