Harpist Aisha Palmer is one of the musicians at the London Transport Museum [London Transport Museum]

THE strangest concert I’ve ever been to as a critic was one where the audience was encouraged to drink as much alcohol as possible, lie down in the dark on mattresses and hear the music in a drunken stupor. It was meant to be an “altered states” experiment in listening, though inevitably people fell asleep and some got up to no good (noisily) with new friends under cover of the blackout. And it happened in Vienna, courtesy of the city’s avant-garde ensemble Klangforum, which in those days was an off-the-wall operation that nonethe­less attracted the most brilliant players on the European contemporary scene.

These days it’s not quite so radical: there won’t be mattresses or hanky-panky for its weekend residence at Wigmore Hall, Feb 16-17 (heaven forbid). But it’s still a bench-mark group with superb players. And no one with a sense of adventure should miss the Schoenberg, Schreker and Eisler it programmes over these two days. wigmore-hall.org.uk

• Thea Musgrave is the British opera composer hardly anyone in Britain knows about, because she’s lived in America for the past half-century and her operas are rarely staged this side of the Atlantic. But her 1970s magnum opus Mary Queen of Scots gets done this week by English National Opera, Feb 15 and 18.  These performances are reduced stagings but they’ll hopefully give some indication of why their composer deserves more recog­ni­tion in her homeland – not least because she’s now in her late 90s and time is running out! eno.org

• That said, younger figures in the opera world don’t have it easy either – which is why the organisation Opera Prelude was created to offer assistance with career coaching and performance opportunities to young professionals just out of college. It’s run by the established tenor Philip Sheffield, who also happens to be artistic director of Hampstead Garden Opera. And it’s promoting a series of six Sunday afternoon recital-platforms at Burgh House, Hampstead, starting Feb 16.

Each functions as a tribute by the young performer to some major star who’s been of influence to him or her. And it launches with a programme based around the illustrious career of Renee Fleming. The series runs on throughout Feb & Mar. Details: operaprelude.org

• Talking of stars, there’s an elite gathering at the Barbican, Feb 17, when three of the biggest names on the instrumental circuit – Yevgeny Kissin, Gidon Kremer, Maxim Rysanov – gather to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Shostakovich. barbican.org.uk

Alternatively try a star of tomorrow on Feb 18, when French pianist and City Music Foundation alumnus Antoine Preat plays an all-French programme at Leighton House, Holland Park. Details: lisapeacock.co.uk

• There was a time when bus conductors (older readers will remember them) occasion­ally whistled the odd tune bet­ween collecting fares, but other­wise there’s never been much meaningful connection between London Transport and the music world – until now, with a series of Friday afternoon concerts at the London Transport Museum, Covent Garden, starting Feb 14. The performers are all students from London conservatoires. And be warned: the acoustic is poor, so they’ll be amplified to be heard above the noise of indifferent museum-goers. But if you’re intrigued by the idea of Bach on (or among) the buses. ltmuseum.co.uk