The show must go onAPR 17 2009

After bad flying weather delayed the orchestra and kept the vocal soloist from arriving altogether for an event at Carnegie Hall, most of the musicians played in street clothes and -- after some furious backstage cramming -- the orchestra's conductor, David Robertson, performed the challenging vocal piece in his debut as a singer.

Mr. Gruber intended for the texts to be delivered in a kind of speech-song, complete with nasal squawks and patter. You do not need a proper singing voice to perform the part, but you do have to be uninhibited. Mr. Robertson's performance was a tour de force of uninhibition.

(via clusterflock)