Posted on 01/23/2009 8:18:46 AM PST by Schnucki
It's not exactly Watergate but Barack Obama's inauguration was back in the dock today after it emerged that the quartet of classical musicians who ushered him on to the steps of the Capitol were faking it.
In a report headlined "The Frigid Fingers Were Live, but the Music Wasn't", The New York Times said that the four, including the violinist Itzhak Perlman, had already recorded their contribution two days earlier and played along just for show.
A spokeswoman for the congressional committee, which organised the inauguration, the biggest and most costly in history, told the newspaper that the musicians could not have played live in Tuesday's sub-zero temperatures because of the risk of broken piano strings and cracked instruments.
“No one’s trying to fool anybody. This isn’t a matter of Milli Vanilli," said Carole Florman, referring to the lip-synching pop duo stripped of a Grammy in 1990. “Truly, weather just made it impossible."
Ms Florman said that the use of a recording had not been made public beforehand but the producers overseeing television coverage of the event had been warned that it was likely. All other musical contributions on the day were performed live.
“It’s not something we would announce, but it’s not something we would try to hide,” she added. “Frankly, it would never have occurred to me to announce it."
Joining Mr Perlman for a rendition of Air and Simple Gifts, a, new work by John Williams, was the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the clarinetist Anthony McGill and the pianist Gabriela Montero. Their performance immediately preceded Mr Obama's swearing-in, in which he uncharacteristically managed to mangle the oath of office.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
What else is faked!
THE AUDACITY OF TRUTH ABOUT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA
“faked” bad word, sorry
ML/NJ
Well, IMO, it’s a tempest in a teapot. It’s done all the time when a performance HAS to appear perfect. However, ir brings to mind something I heard during the campaign - “Obama is the Milli Vanilli of politics”. Kinda ironic.
I have no idea why people are spending time on this kind of crap when Obama has already taken some horrid actions that we could be discussing.
It’s like that little Chinese girl at the Olympics. What do you expect from a Marxist?
All things considered, I think that it is most appropriate that they faked it. Very appropriate.
Taking lessons from the China Olympics???
Barry is used to having people fake it.
;-)
Completely unfair to the musicians.
1. It was extremely cold outside. Try working your fingers correctly at 20-degrees.
2. It was extremely cold outside. Try getting a wood instrument to tune correctly in those temps.
And, they were playing, but it wasn’t their music that was pumped over the PA.
This stuff happens all the time.
There is no grassy knoll.
Good for the musicians, who care more about their artistic reputations than to play with frozen, stiff hands and strings that tighten in the wind.
Very professional, I must say.
I didn't watch the coronation, so I really don't know.
Was it really below zero that day?
(Yeah, I know, EVERYTHING was beneath Zero that day.)
I'm far north of DC and it wasn't that cold here. The predictions were for 20 degrees or so.
“Tuesday’s sub-zero temperatures”.....sub zero....say what?
of course they went into a studio to record...ain’t no way snybody is going to risk splitting the back of a million dollar Stradivarious just so the messiah can fake an air of refinement to a hip hop inaugaration.
They want me to believe Aretha Franklin was not a recording too? Where was the chorus that came in at the end of the song? Backstage, or on tape?
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