Show-stealing lightbulb explodes and terrifies violinist during serene string recital

18 March 2021, 15:32 | Updated: 22 March 2021, 16:48

You’ve seen mobile phones and clapping interrupt live performances. Now we present to you... an exploding lightbulb.

Practise, warm up and prepare all you like – but sometimes, things will happen at a concert that are out of your control.

Take a rainy day spoiling a beautiful outdoor show, or even a violin string spontaneously snapping (handled like a boss by this musician).

For Latvian violinist Kristīne Balanas, it was a lightbulb that decided to steal the show as she applied horsehair to string, in what was previously a peaceful string recital.

Announcing its final croak with a sharp POP, this knackered bulb really chose the perfect time to explode.

Warning: you may jump out of your skin...

Read more: This violinist’s E string SNAPPED just before his solo – but he recovered like a legend >

Exploding lightbulb terrifies violinist during string recital

Kristīne was performing with the Sinfonietta Riga at Rundāle Palace, a beautiful baroque palace in Latvia, when the incident happened.

Describing the unexpected moment, Kristīne told Classic FM how the evening until then had held an intimate atmosphere.

“I can’t believe that it happened in the quietest moment,” she said. “At that second I got really annoyed when it exploded, I think you can see that in my expression.

“My body’s natural reaction was to jump, but I resisted.”

She recalled how she’s previously faced a broken string during a performance, but this was a little different.

“A loud explosive sound can really set a musician off,” she added.

See more performances from Kristīne on her YouTube channel, including this striking take on Bach’s Partita No. 1 at the Institute of Astronomy in Latvia.

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