I must admit, I am impressed by the speed at which the new President of the United States works. Already on day one, Inauguration Day, his administration had its first scandal. And I am not referring to the flubbed oath, which was not really his fault, and which he wisely re-oathed later, just to preclude any wacko conspiracy theories, on the one hand a sad reminder of the significance of wacko conspiracy theorists in your country, on the other hand sort of entertaining for people who like to laugh at your country, not that I number myself among them. No, I am referring to the Millivanillification of the music. “It was a cold day,” is not an excuse for such behavior, although I do admit that I did feel sorry, as I sat in my study outside Baden Baden, watching the ceremony while dining on a meal of mahi-mahi and cous cous (with Walla Walla onions), for all the musicians playing in the cold (Duran Duran played at low volume on my stereo in the background). Yo-Yo Ma, of all people. A man of his stature, finger-synching. Shame on you, Yo-Yo. Not only did they get Yo-Yo to perform (what, was Isserlis busy? I mean, have you compared Ma’s version of the Bach Cello Suites to those of Bylsma or Isserlis? Seriously.), he didn’t even really perform. Or he did, but then they played something else? That’s what Britney said. Honestly. I could have performed under those conditions. Zsa Zsa Gabor could have, and with greater flair. I sincerely hope an investigative committee convenes soon to look into this.
Ok – I’m not a musician (not since elementary school), but I’m with you, BBG. I believed I was hearing Yitzak and YoYo and I was appalled to learn of the deception. But, hey, this is politics. It’s wrought with deception.
Bob Barr ’12!!
Ja, I don’t know, in the end. You don’t want to mess up an inauguration, like that guy reading the oath. And fingers get stiff in the cold, and instruments go out of tune. OTOH, they were faking it, no matter what their reason. I mean, Britney takes flak for sort of faking her singing, but you don#t want to mess up a big concert either. I dunno.
Come now, Watson. Isn’t that a little presumptuous? Milli Vanilli pretended to be something they weren’t, but we have no evidence of Yo-Yo Ma pretending to be Britney, or Britney pretending to be Yo-Yo. It is simply preposterous. And as for this chap, Boutros Boutros Ghali, I say, he’s not even Italian. No, Watson, this will never do. We must look at the source.
Also, I think Aretha Franklin’s hat was a computer-generated special effect.