The orchestra had already taken the stage. The concert, part of a Beethoven Festival organised by Rome's Accademia di Santa Cecilia, was a sell-out. Conductor Myung-Whun Chung was about to make for his rostrum when someone had the wit to take a look at the auditorium. It was more than half-empty.
The concert organisers knew only too well what had happened. Half the audience were obviously stuck in the traffic. No problem: Maestro, you don't mind delaying the concert for a half hour to allow people get here?
It was done. The concert was delayed for half an hour.
This is the Eternal City, on the eve of the new millennium, and the traffic has never been so bad.
As Rome prepares itself for the invasion of more than 30 million tourist-pilgrims next year (double the annual average), the citizens of Rome already have good reason to bemoan the fact that they live at the so-called centre of Christendom.
More than 1,000 public, private and Vatican millennium projects, ranging from the much-publicised restoration of the facade of the Basilica of Saint Peter's, to the building of a new suburban train line, the construction of car parks and the widening of the city's key ring-road have turned Rome into a giant building site which threatens to jam Rome's already chaotic traffic permanently.
Traffic, of course, is a sore point these days with Dubliners. Ireland's capital has a burgeoning traffic problem of serious proportions. But console yourselves. Nothing compares with the Eternal City's early morning joust as two million cars and a 600,000 mopeds battle with gridlock on the road to nowhere.
Road restrictions, diversions, closures and a constant stream of construction vehicles and lorries do not help. In the tiny area around Saint Peter's alone (the area containing the Santa Cecilia auditorium - hence the tardy audience), an average of 60 heavy lorries move equipment and materials in and out every hour.
On a recent very wet morning, my wife and sister-in-law got stuck for three hours while attempting to head into downtown Rome for shopping and a visit to the dentist. They, of course, had committed a cardinal error. Namely, unless your leg needs immediate amputation or you have to collect your $75 million SuperEna Lotto win, then just stay at home.
Rome traffic has always required careful handling. Morning and evening rush hours, for example, were always to be avoided if at all possible. Given the current state of traffic, thanks to the various work-sites, an easy ride in and around Rome can be guaranteed only in the early hours of the morning. In common with the rest of the developed world, Rome's traffic problems begin in earnest on the day schools reopen. Add to that Rome's traditional autumnal monsoon season and you have guaranteed chaos.
On the first really wet day of last month, things got so bad that even the Mayor of Rome, Francesco Rutelli, got stuck in the jam on his way to the office, notwithstanding his police escort. The furious Mayor got working on the mobile phone to summon the traffic cops, but to no avail.
The mayor did at least have a better day than the 35 motorists who were injured as a result of more than 140 accidents on that same morning. On Monday last, again thanks to the rain, 60 accidents were recorded in the space of two hours while a 25-km long logjam formed on the 70-km long, 200,000-car-per-day ring road.
Inevitably, too, the Jubilee preparations affect tourists to Rome as well as commuters. Many travellers arriving in Rome by train last Monday found themselves in the wrong station and up to two hours late. Rome's central Termini station had been reduced to chaos when a new, high-tech computer switch system (installed for the Jubilee) malfunctioned.
Travellers leaving Rome's international airport of Fiumicino on the same day experienced even greater problems as flights were cancelled because the airport's fuel reserves ran dry.
Some consolation is to be had from the consideration that the fuel shortage can be put down to "routine" mal-administration rather than "extraordinary" preparations for the Jubilee.
According to Rome City Council, however, all is not lost. A spokesman told The Irish Times that the situation will improve dramatically from December by which time the remaining 300 Jubilee work sites will have been closed. A new computerised traffic control centre will be introduced for the Jubilee year, with one of its major priorities being to control the flow of tourist and pilgrim buses, the bete noire for your average Roman motorist.
In short, it may be tough now but it will be all right on the night. Not everyone is convinced. Carlo Rienzi, a spokesman for a consumer rights group, last week commented: "Our suggestion is to move the Jubilee to the year 2025 and invite all citizens to stay at home."
Paddy Agnew may be contacted at pagnew@aconet.it