Joining Mr Perlman for a rendition of Air and Simple Gifts, a, new work by John Williams, was the cellist Yo-Yo Ma




Yo-Yo Ma!

To me this puts them on the same level as Ashlee Simpson and her lip-syncing hoedown.

As TFA says... it was cold. Cold makes things (like cello strings and such) contract and go out of tune.

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."


I don't see the issue. They recorded it specifically for the show, and god knows they can play damn good.

Too bad they didn't prerecord the oath.

Philogogus: As TFA says... it was cold. Cold makes things (like cello strings and such) contract and go out of tune.

This.

Anyone who's even done marching band in freezing weather knows that instruments can freeze up and cause problems.

My problem with the quartet wasn't that they were lip-synching (finger-synching? bow-synching?), but that they were playing yet another hacky John Williams composition that pinched musical ideas from another composer (Aaron Copland this time, instead of Gustav Holst like he does for most of his movie scores.)

threadjack: who would be your choice of composer for such an event? I'm not defending Williams here, just trying to think of a good representative contemporary composer...

jake_lex: My problem with the quartet wasn't that they were lip-synching (finger-synching? bow-synching?), but that they were playing yet another hacky John Williams composition that pinched musical ideas from another composer (Aaron Copland this time, instead of Gustav Holst like he does for most of his movie scores.)

jake_lex: My problem with the quartet wasn't that they were lip-synching (finger-synching? bow-synching?), but that they were playing yet another hacky John Williams composition that pinched musical ideas from another composer (Aaron Copland this time, instead of Gustav Holst like he does for most of his movie scores.)

my problem was that it wasn't a very compelling piece of music.

imbrial: threadjack: who would be your choice of composer for such an event? I'm not defending Williams here, just trying to think of a good representative contemporary composer..

Obama is the got-damn Batman, right? Danny Elfman FTW!

And... yeah, hauling out the Stradavarii in freezing temps isn't a good idea. My wife is a viola player, and she starts getting antsy if the heater is off in our apartment and her viola is still in its case. Weather like that can fark up a string instrument.

No way in hell she would haul out the good stuff and play outdoors in weather like that.

I thought they sounded too good to be playing live out in the cold like that. As long as it was a recording of them actually playing I'm good with it. To my knowledge Milli Vanilli didn't even sing their own stuff. They just danced around on stage to stuff someone else had done.

submitter: The musical quartet playing at the inauguration pulled a Milli Vanilli. Countdown to someone somewhere claiming that this means that Obama isn't president begins now

Well, the reason is obvious.

Blame It On The Rain.

'Tis a gift to be simple
'Tis a gift to be free
'Tis a gift to mime along with a CD.

/Shaker like a Polaroid picture

Too bad Roberts wasn't pre-recorded, too.

Don't hold ceremonies outside in bad weather? Duh?

Sybarite: Joining Mr Perlman for a rendition of Air and Simple Gifts, a, new work by John Williams, was the cellist Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma!

Boutros Boutros Ghali!

This means Obama isn't actually president.

Philogogus: As TFA says... it was cold. Cold makes things (like cello strings and such) contract and go out of tune.

You mean, things could shrink?

jake_lex: My problem with the quartet wasn't that they were lip-synching (finger-synching? bow-synching?), but that they were playing yet another hacky John Williams composition that pinched musical ideas from another composer (Aaron Copland this time, instead of Gustav Holst like he does for most of his movie scores.)

It wasn't a composition by Williams, it was an arrangement of Copland by Williams.

Why they didn't grab a handful of extra musicians and perform the original chamber version is beyond me.

Since we are talking about lip-syncing, etc...



/Obligatory
//The hotlink is also obligatory

TFA: "Mr Ma said that he just wanted to produce a performance that was emotionally genuine."

Mr. Ma? Isn't that kind of calling Meatloaf "Mr. Loaf?"

Todd Gack?

notmtwain: Too bad they didn't prerecord the oath.

Too bad the chief justice is the one who screwed up first.

"President to the United States" would have made me pause as well.

he's already not the president. the oath was flubbed, and the do-overs don't count, based on a clause in the constitution.

learn your civics subby

Manfred J. Hattan: Mr. Ma? Isn't that kind of calling Meatloaf "Mr. Loaf?"

Ma is his surname.

So does that mean I can download the mp3 of the actual recording then? Because it was a pretty cool song, it was as cool as ice in fact.

/thank you, thank you, enjoy the veal.

I'd be surprised if people still get the Milli Vanilli reference

Thakh: This means Obama isn't actually president.

Obama isn't president? I choose to believe this.

Oh, and it was boring, too. Jesus, I couldn't even dance to it.

I agree very much with jake_lex

I always knew Perlman and Ma were talentless hacks.

Bill_Wick's_Friend: 'Tis a gift to be simple
'Tis a gift to be free
'Tis a gift to mime along with a CD.

LOLworthy!

*Checks FoxNews*

Well I'll be damned...

They missed a chance at another level of stupidity.

/And they were almost to 9000!

madmann: submitter: The musical quartet playing at the inauguration pulled a Milli Vanilli. Countdown to someone somewhere claiming that this means that Obama isn't president begins now

Well, the reason is obvious.

Blame It On The Rain.

It's a Tragedy to me that they faked the funk. Girl, you know it's true.

jake_lex: My problem with the quartet wasn't that they were lip-synching (finger-synching? bow-synching?), but that they were playing yet another hacky John Williams composition that pinched musical ideas from another composer (Aaron Copland this time, instead of Gustav Holst like he does for most of his movie scores.)

Yeah, I gotta agree on that one. It was pompous, self important, wandering, random, made no sense, and totally ripped off Copeland.

Does this mean Yo Yo Ma isn't really President?

Bartleby the Scrivener: he's already not the president. the oath was flubbed, and the do-overs don't count, based on a clause in the constitution.

learn your civics subby

LOL nice. Simple, no capitals, and an insult at the end.

9/10.

Kuroshin: *Checks FoxNews*

Well I'll be damned...

They missed a chance at another level of stupidity.

/And they were almost to 9000!

Fark where anime and Fox News comes together.

Well that's it. I want my money back.

I'm not surprised to see this article. I actually was thinking during the performance, "It has to suck to try to play your instruments outside in weather as cold as that." So, I don't blame them.

lexnaturalis: Philogogus: As TFA says... it was cold. Cold makes things (like cello strings and such) contract and go out of tune.

This.

Anyone who's even done marching band in freezing weather knows that instruments can freeze up and cause problems.

I was so happy to be a cymbal player during those snowy nights when peoples lips were trying to freeze to their mouthpieces.

Shostie: Manfred J. Hattan: Mr. Ma? Isn't that kind of calling Meatloaf "Mr. Loaf?"

Ma is his surname.

I'll be damned. Yo Yo Ma is his legal, at-birth, given name. I figured it was a stage name or something.

Well, cool. I learned something. That means I can go home. Thanks!

I want to see the ORIGINAL birth certificates of everyone involved!

This is indicative of everything we will see from the Obama administration, all style and no substance.

I was wondering if it was pre-recorded at the time. There's no way that clarinet could have stayed in tune in that weather, was the first thing I thought, and then I thought the musician must have been amazing to play so warmly in such cold weather (it should/would have sounded much tangier and more squakish).

jake_lex: My problem with the quartet wasn't that they were lip-synching (finger-synching? bow-synching?), but that they were playing yet another hacky John Williams composition

I didn't find the piece terrible, but it didn't move me.

Good music makes you listen for a while, and then your mind begins to wander. Near the end of the piece you shake yourself back to reality and chastise yourself for daydreaming during a live musical performance.

Then you realize it wasn't as prosaic/wank-oriented as your normal daydreams and actually you were feeling specific, interesting emotions while you were daydreaming, and you realize the music took you on a journey.

I might be insane, but that's how I judge quality classical. It makes me think of and feel things I wasn't thinking/feeling before I began listening.

jeez, i have trouble playing guitar in a slightly chilly indoor space. I was wondering how the hell they were doing it.

/my problem is that even when the room is warm I still kinda suck

Um, yeah. Lack of wind noise should have been the first tipoff. To eliminate that in miking (i.e., for speech) you lose dynamics and range. It was a recording. As long as it was a recording of the same quartet, I'm not particularly bothered.

And, I liked the tune well enough.

The audio and video of our Jumbotron were so out of synch I couldn't really tell for sure. But there were a couple moments where something about their motion (especially Perlman's) that looked suspect. Considering the conditions and value of their instruments, I'll give them a pass.

Ummmmm...who cares?

Bartleby the Scrivener: he's already not the president. the oath was flubbed, and the do-overs don't count, based on a clause in the constitution.

learn your civics subby

Hahahahahahaha! There's no way you really believe that.

If they couldn't do the performance live in the cold they shouldn't have done it, or they could have beamed them in via satellite or had them in a heated friggin box.

No integrity.

I liked the composition though. Fark the Williams haters.

Walker: To me this puts them on the same level as Ashlee Simpson and her lip-syncing hoedown.

Why?

These guys couldn't preform because the weather made it impossible.

Ashlee Simpson couldn't preform because she is a no talent ass clown.

/thank you Office Space