The symphonic music played at the presidential inauguration celebration was not live.

Probably only the people who were very close to the orchestra heard something live. The rest of the attendance heard a recording made two years ago.

But don’t get upset!

The orchestra and the star artists who performed on stage to celebrate America’s first African-American President took the decision to play the recording just a day before the actual concert. The decision was taken because the weather was too cold for instruments to stay in tune.

"They were very insistent on playing live until it became clear that it would be too cold," said Carole Florman, a spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

The list of celebrity interprets included Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Gabriela Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill. The musicians were playing, but their instruments were not amplified and it would have been “a disaster” if they would have played live, said Itzhak Perlman in an interview with The New York Times.

"This occasion's got to be perfect. You can't have any slip-ups," the famous violinist added.

Other musicians who performed at the event weren’t bothered by the cold weather. The Marine Band, for example, performed live and so did Aretha Franklin, but she was accompanied by taped music and voices.

The temperature in Washington D.C. during the inauguration ceremony was of about 30. A piano can’t hold tune at a temperature below 55 degrees, just as several other instruments in an orchestra.