‘Bomb Attack’--Sound of Music in Wales

SWANSEA, Wales —  Police swarmed into a concert hall Tuesday when they were tipped to a bomb attack in progress--but the blasts turned out to be imitation cannon fire at a rehearsal of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

Worried callers told police they heard explosions and saw flashes of light at Swansea’s Brangwyn Hall and feared a possible guerrilla attack was taking place.

The din turned out to be firecrackers planted in the music hall’s garbage cans to accentuate the finale of the famed 19th Century Russian composer’s masterpiece, inspired by Napoleon’s invasion of Russia.

“We saw flashes through the windows of the Brangwyn and thought it was a bomb because there have been scares there before,” housewife Brenda Rees said. “I don’t think Tchaikovsky meant this sort of thing to happen.”

“We didn’t realize it was so loud,” an orchestra administrator said.