Famed quartet played inauguration to taped music

[IndyKlipschFan]

Famed quartet played inauguration to taped music

By MICHELE SALCEDO, Associated Press Writer Michele Salcedo, Associated Press Writer

27 mins ago

WASHINGTON
– Whether you loved or hated the classical music played at President
Barack Obama's inauguration, what you heard was a recording made two
days earlier unless you were sitting within earshot of the celebrated
performers.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman,
pianist Gabriella Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill made the
decision a day before Tuesday's inauguration after a sound check to use
a previously recorded audio tape for the broadcast of the ceremonies.

Carole
Florman, a spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on
Inaugural Ceremonies, said the weather was too cold for the instruments
to stay in tune.

"They were very insistent on playing live until it became clear that it would be too cold," said Florman in a telephone interview Thursday night.

People sitting nearby could hear the musicians play "Air and Simple Gifts", written for the inauguration by John Williams, but their instruments were not amplified.

"It
would have been a disaster if we had done it any other way," Perlman
told the New York Times, which first reported that the music was taped
on its Web site Thursday. "This occasion's got to be perfect. You can't
have any slip-ups."

The Marine Band, the youth choruses and the Navy Band Sea Chanters performed live, Florman said, although Aretha Franklin was accompanied by taped music and voices.

Florman
said all the acts "laid down tape" before Tuesday's inauguration. When
they did their sound checks on Monday, all but the quartet made the
decision to have their live performances broadcast.

The temperature hovered around 30 for the ceremony on the Capitol steps,
too cold for McGill's clarinet, Ma's cello or Perlman's violin to offer
true pitch. But the cold played havoc with the piano, which can't hold
tune below 55 degrees for more than two hours, Florman said. The group
played at 11:43 a.m., and guests seated near them could hear them as
well as the tape made two days earlier. Guests seated farther away, the
crowds that thronged the National Mall, and the millions who watched around the world heard the taped version of Williams' piece.

"This isn't Milli Vanilli,"
Florman insisted, referring to the late 1980s group stripped of a
Grammy for lip-syncing. "They had to perform in such cold weather, the
instruments couldn't possibly be in tune. They were able to play in
sync with the tape. It's not unusual."

========================================================================

Oh really>>> it is just like Milli Vanilli.... LIARS!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA Or Jessica Simpson's little sis on Saturday Night Live!

I said to my wife, This is really good... no air sounds...and miced up just right.... Can't be live!!! " I was right.....

OK, so who said, "Tell the truth?" Or did someone get caught......?? heheheheehehe

Another left wing conspiracy to fool us I am sure!

[Hifi jim]

This is really good... no air sounds...and miced up just right.... Can't be live!!! " I was right.....

I didn't think it sounded live either, as you said it was too good. And after seeing James Taylor perform with an electric guitar at Sunday's concert (to avoid the same problem with his acoustic guitar I suppose), I was wondering how other performers were going to cope... now we know. It was a fraud like most of Washington. []

[BLSamuel]

So they spent how many millions on this shindig and couldn't even provide some outdoor space heaters to create a controlled zone around the quartet? Maybe a cone of heat so to speak. And I would think humidty would be very important also. Wouldn't be surprised if modern stages for the large tours that go outside don't have heating and even cooling capabilities built in.

Maybe even enclose in a portablel see through bandshell though I can't believe a heat zone couldn't be created around the instruments in open space though I suppose some sort of windblock might be required? Did they even try? I'm sure the Army Corps of Engineers could've come up with something within 24 to 48 hours. Probably 6 to 8.

Would it really have been so out of tune to be "disastrous". I doubt that it would've been that bad but at least it would've been the real deal.

So will the president elect resort to recording the swearing in ceremony in the future.

[IndyKlipschFan]

sad isn't it..... Go Ashley Simpson getting your ya ya's off!! LOL

Almost all of the superbowl National Anthems are taped as well.

Including Whitney Houston's.

[IndyKlipschFan]

The again, Milli Vanilli, did have hits too... Can we at least give Grammy's to the real singers today? MTV is all image anyhow.. Cool today, gone tomorrow. Great songs in the day during the summer for sure!

Singles

Year	Song	Band Name	US Hot 100	UK singles	German Charts	Swiss Charts	Austrian Charts	Nederlandse Top 40	Album
1988	Girl You Know It's True	Milli Vanilli	2	3	1	2	1	4	All or Nothing / Girl You Know It's True
1989	Baby Don't Forget My Number	Milli Vanilli	1	16	9	11	-	6	All or Nothing / Girl You Know It's True
1989	Girl I'm Gonna Miss You	Milli Vanilli	1	2	2	1	1	1	All or Nothing / Girl You Know It's True
1989	Blame It on the Rain	Milli Vanilli	1	52	3	22	8	2	All or Nothing U.S. Remix Album / Girl You Know It's True
1990	All or Nothing	Milli Vanilli	4	74	17	22	14	11	All or Nothing / Girl You Know It's True
1990	Keep on Running	Milli Vanilli	-	76	4	8	2	9	The Moment of Truth

[Bill H.]

Roger,

When you consider how cold it was.............I think that was an excellent idea. I loved the Piece recorded or otherwise. I would hate to see an
expensive/priceless Instrument damaged. In fact before this came out, I thought why are they out in the Freezing cold with those?????????

It is all symbolized anyway, just very expensive.

It wouldn't happen, but if they really were concerned they would do the Oath in the Oval Office with close family and just be done. Just like local politician do.

****************Whew , thanks I feel better Now*******************[8-)]

[garymd]

Taped or not, it was the best part of the inauguration for me.

Yo Yo Ma can play air-cello in my living room any time he wants!

[Tom Adams]

I too enjoyed the "piece". But now that I know it was recorded, I'm really irk'd 'cause while listening/watching (Direct TV HD) I kept thinking, "well I guess with it being played outdoors and the weather & all, I guess they just don't have the mic right for the clarinet 'cause he's being completely walked on by the other instruments." So now I know it was recorded that way. Good ged.....who could not have noticed the clarinet being lost?

Tom

[fini]

It needed more cowbell.

[fini]

Oh, and I think Justice Roberts should have lip-sync-ed his part...[]

[dtel]

It needed more cowbell.

Got to love this guy ! [Y]

[Marvel]

I heard an interview with Yo-Yo Ma, and he said the piao tech had managed to disengage the keyborad and hammers from actually hitting the strings.The put soap on their bows, so they would slide and not play notes... It was just too cold to have the instruments sound correct. He mentioned that the Marine Band often does the same thing.

I've had to play my acoustic guitar in warmer weather than they were in and it is nigh on to impossible to stay in tune with myself, much less a quartet.

[IndyKlipschFan]

But to say it was live....on that day,,,is a LIE!

Sorry, but that part is true..

[IndyKlipschFan]

Prerecorded music at inauguration causes flap

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Ap Music Writer

Fri Jan 23, 5:53 pm ET

NEW YORK – To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, here we go again.

The

revelation that millions of people who saw the inauguration of

President Barack Obama were actually listening to recorded music

instead of the actual performance of the Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman-led

quartet has led to comparisons of lip-synching (though, in this case,

might the correct term be hand-synching?) and drawn comparisons to

other infamous cases, including Ashlee Simpson's "Saturday Night Live" debacle and perhaps music's most famous pantomimes, Milli Vanilli.

But

Carole Florman, a spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on

Inaugural Ceremonies, says she doesn't understand what the fuss is all

about.

"I think this is a whole lot of

nothin'," she said on Friday. "These are world-class performers who are

playing in 19 degree weather and the technical requirements of their

instruments made it impossible for them to have their music amplified

and know that it would be in tune. So they made, what I think, was

probably a difficult decision to play to tape."

A

representative for Perlman echoed her comments Friday with the

following statement: "Mr. Perlman was deeply honored to be a part of

the inauguration ceremony. The brutal cold created the distinct

possibility of broken or out of tune instruments and, in order to avoid

a weather related issue detracting from the majesty of the day, a

decision was reached to play along to the recording that the quartet

had made earlier in the week."

Cellist Ma, violinist Perlman, pianist Gabriela Montero and Metropolitan Opera clarinet player Anthony McGill performed "Air and Simple Gifts," a piece arranged by Oscar-winning composer John Williams. Montero was wearing gloves, but the rest of the quartet played their instruments barehanded in the frigid 28-degree weather.

Florman

said they were indeed playing their instruments and not miming their

moves. But those who saw the event did not hear that, but the recorded

track.

Don Mischer of Don Mischer Productions, which produced the pre-Inauguration "We Are One" concert, the last few Super Bowl halftime performances

as well as two Olympics, says some kind of recorded music is often used

at major events, especially when there are poor weather conditions.

"The

main thing is that you want the music to sound good, and there are some

conditions in which the music will not sound good," he said.

Florman said everyone performing at the inauguration, from Aretha Franklin

to the U.S. Marine Band, recorded a version of their performance as a

precautionary measure, typical for such events. But Franklin sang "My

Country, 'Tis of Thee" live, and the band also performed live.

Florman said when Obama made his request for the quartet, because of the delicacy of the instruments and the size of the grand piano, there was some consideration given to having the quartet play at the Capitol and have their performance beamed to the world.

"Everyone

agreed that they needed to perform someplace so (Obama) could actually

watch the performance," she said. "But obviously the drawback is that

they're out in the elements."

Kent

Webb, manager of technical services and support for the famous Steinway

& Sons piano maker, said its instruments are extremely sensitive to

changes in temperature and the extreme cold would not only have made

the instrument out of tune, but would have made the keys susceptible to

sticking.

"The playability and the amount of finesse that one can extract from a performance are very compromised," Kent said.

The idea that the quartet's music was not heard live may be heresy to some in classical music — the late Luciano Pavarotti

caused a stir when it was discovered he lip-synched on one occasion.

But while it may not be as widely publicized as when a pop star

lip-synchs, it does happen, says Mischer (though he added the hope is

to "always go live.")

He produced the opening ceremonies at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, in which the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performed. He said the ensemble did so to recorded music.

"There

was no way that we could in fact mike the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

and make them sound good on a show that was going to be seen by 80

percent of the planet," he said.

He also recalled his production of the opening ceremonies at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City,

which featured Ma in a performance with Sting. While Sting's vocals

were live, what viewers heard was a recorded performance by the

cellist.

"Yo-Yo has got a Stradivarius

cello that's worth ... $2 million or $3 million," he said. "We had snow

falling that night, we had 17 degree temperature, we had the wind

blowing as high as 20 mph, and that's a very very risky environment in

which to play an instrument like that and expect it to sound good. And

it's not like someone else played the music, Yo-Yo played the music."

Mischer said during the torrential downpour during Prince's 2007 Super Bowl performance, the rocker sang live and even played his wireless guitars live, but the percussion was piped in because of the rain.

But even in good conditions, getting good sound in an open-air stadium, or sometimes even a domed arena, is difficult.

Some artists choose to lip-synch — Whitney Houston's memorable performance of the national anthem in 1991 at the Super Bowl

was sung to a track. "There are artists who absolutely want to go with

prerecorded tracks because they worked hard to create a sound, and they

want it to sound good," said Mischer.

But for this year's Super Bowl, which features Bruce Springsteen as the halftime performer, don't expect any lip-synching from the Boss.

"Bruce Springsteen is going to go 100 percent live," he said. "That's the way Bruce wants it."

[Hifi jim]

"Yo-Yo has got a Stradivarius

cello that's worth ... $2 million or $3 million," he said. "We had snow

falling that night, we had 17 degree temperature, we had the wind

blowing as high as 20 mph, and that's a very very risky environment in

which to play an instrument like that and expect it to sound good.

Doesn't he have more than one cello? [*-)]

[fini]

Doesn't he have more than one cello?

It couldn't be because extras would take up too much space. I mean, there's always room for cello.

[IndyKlipschFan]

But for this year's Super Bowl, which features Bruce Springsteen as the halftime performer, don't expect any lip-synching from the Boss.

"Bruce Springsteen is going to go 100 percent live," he said. "That's the way Bruce wants it."

===============================================================================

Yes, I am sure "The BOSS" or his band has never over dubbed anything, ever, in his life? rrrrrrriiiiigggghhhhtttttt

Give me a break!!!!

Maybe we can, in this new era of hope, admit our stars get a lot of help in the recording AND in the live performance areas....

AND TO ALL THE YOUNGER HOTTIES DANCING TOO... KEEP DOING IT!!! I do not care if it is lip synced at all!

[LarryC]

Doesn't he have more than one cello?

Yeah, but that doesn't mean it'd be worth less than his main string. From Wikipedia:

Ma's primary performance instrument is the Domenico Montagnana 1733 cello built in Venice and nicknamed Petunia. This cello, more than 270 years old and valued at US$2.5 million, was lost in the fall of 1999 when Ma accidentally left the instrument in a taxicab in New York City. It was later recovered undamaged. Another of Ma's cellos, the Davidov Stradivarius, was previously owned by Jacqueline du Pré who passed it to him upon her death, and owned by the Vuitton Foundation. Though Du Pré previously voiced her frustration with the "unpredictability" of this cello, Ma attributed the comment to du Pré's impassioned style of playing, adding that the Stradivarius cello must be "coaxed" by the player. It was until recently set up in a Baroque manner, since Ma exclusively played Baroque music on it. He also owns a cello made of carbon fiber by the Luis and Clark company of Boston.

I can't believe he left his Petunia in a NYC taxicab!!!!

[IndyKlipschFan]

Ma is a class act!

He is also very very funny too.

I never appreciated it (the cello) as much until after I saw a 2 hour special on him on HDTV. He is very smart, funny, and a INCREDIBLE player! He also has used his tallents in various genres and had a lot of fun playing for all kind of performers and styles..

Perlman is another genius too. Really strong as a violin player.

My HS Symphony teacher was Richard Dennis,.. He was first chair principle violinist for Leonard Bernstein and also played with Aaron Copeland. I was sooo spoiled not having a grasp of just how great he was as a kid, and I'd give about anything to have a afternoon lunch with him today, but he passed away a few years ago!

[Marvel]

He also owns a cello made of carbon fiber by the Luis and Clark company of Boston.

They started making those after their long expedition out West.

(I can't let fini make all the bad jokes, even if it was funny)