12:26 p.m. ET, November 3, 2020
The music went on in the Vienna State Opera house as an attack unfolded outside
From Sharon Braithwaite in Pisa
Heavily armed police stand outside the Vienna State Opera after shots were fired in the city center on Monday night.
Michael Gruber/Getty Images
When the security of the world-famous Vienna State Opera told its staff that shots had been fired in the city center and that people were not allowed to leave the building, the performance of Pagliacci's Cavalleria Rusticana kept going.
"We decided not to stop the performance ... it was our last performance before the corona-lockdown," a spokeswoman for the opera house told CNN via email.
The director went on stage and told the audience what had happened and that security forces would not allow people to leave the opera.
"The audience was very calm, nobody panicked," the spokeswoman said, adding that "after about an hour, a few musicians played the string quartet to entertain the audience that was still in the hall."
"The quartet was not arranged. They played it very spontaneously, there were not many people in the hall. They played a quartet by Joseph Haydn, one of the greatest composers of our country."
Barbara Lovett was among those who witnessed the moment and posted a video on Twitter. "Police kept us safe inside the Vienna State Opera after tonight's performance. While we waited, members of the Vienna Philharmonic started to play. No attack will ever stop the music in Vienna," she
tweeted.