What was going on there? Our KHO musicians tell us about a snapshot before a concert. This time: Violinist Petr Matěják and his tailcoat.

I'm just  fixing my bow tie backstage. The next step is to put on my tailcoat.

It's definitely a specific step signalling  ‘I'm about to go on stage!’ But it doesn't automatically help me to get the concentration I need. That's something completely different; it comes from within, from mental preparation. You can also be dressed as a clown and still have good concentration.

I bought it at the last minute, so to speak, when I got an academy position with the DSO in Berlin. Before that, I studied in the USA, where a black suit was sufficient for concerts. In professional orchestras there, musicians usually wear tuxedos. I then chose a nice tailcoat in a shop in Prague – I come from Czechia – with matching shoes.

You need patent leather shoes and a special tailcoat shirt with a white bow tie and black cummerbund. It just goes together. Strangely enough, I was sold a white cummerbund back then, which I wore for years. It was only when I had a contract as concertmaster at the Komische Oper that someone pointed out to me that it had to be black. I hadn't noticed that (laughs).

Tailcoats in action: Petr Matěják in our First Violin section (photo: Marco Borggreve)

Nice cufflinks, perhaps, if you want to show off something special. Or a white pocket square on the left side – I don't necessarily do that. Or you can have your tailcoat tailor-made – tours to China often offer opportunities for this . But on our last one, I wasn't in the orchestra yet, and my ‘off-the-peg’ tailcoat fit very well anyway.

Actually, it is often too hot, because the lighting gives off a lot of heat. When the air conditioning in the hall is off and it is a warm day outside, it often becomes really uncomfortable. That is why all kinds of clever tricks are available on the market, such as short-sleeved tailcoat shirts with cuffs sewn onto the bottom of the tailcoat sleeves or particularly lightweight high-tech materials.

Certainly not (laughs). It's challenging enough to keep concert attire immaculate. Apart from perspiration, the areas where the instruments are in regular contact with it are particularly vulnerable to wear and tear and stains.