On inauguration day, when millions of Americans were celebrating the swearing in of their new president Barack Obama, all those present for the event got to hear a recording made in advance by four famous musicians, which was prompted by the fear that the cold might have hindered a live performance.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Gabriella Montero and clarinettist Anthony McGill played along with the recording, which according to the organizers, was made because the bad weather could have damaged the instruments.

Carole Florman, a spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, said that the four musicians who played John Williams' „Air and Simple Gifts,” had insisted on performing live until they had all realized that it would have been too cold to pull that off.

Moreover, she added that due to the frozen weather, the strings could have snapped, while instruments could have cracked or gone out of tune.

In an interview with the New York Times, Florman said that no one had tried to deceive anybody and that even though they had not announced the fact that the performance had been pre-recorded, they had not aimed at hiding it.

Furthermore, she said that the NBC network had been informed that the musicians were likely to use a recording for their performance.

Violinist Itzhak Perlman revealed that had they approached the matter differently, it would have turned out a disaster.

All the other musical performances during the event were live, still Aretha Franklin was accompanied by taped music and additional voices.