Madam, - It is not only in the National Concert Hall that audiences appear to be unaware that coughing at a performance is unacceptable. I concur with everything Brian Cooper (November 15th) has to say.
Last Spring Dame Kiri Te Kanawa gave a recital in the Helix at which the coughing was so sustained she had to ask the audience to refrain, pointing out that it was customary to cover one's mouth when one coughs. Sadly her admonition appeared to have little effect. To my amazement, the review subsequently carried in your newspaper made no reference to the occurrence. - Yours, etc.,
BERNARDINE RUDDY, Dollymount Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin 3.