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)