Great Olympic musical deceptions of our time
• Tony Jones
• August 24, 2008
SYDNEY has its Opera House - but has it got a real orchestra? Within daysof NSW Premier Morris Iemma making unwise cracks about Melbourne beingleft off the World Monopoly board, The Sunday Age can reveal that theSydney Symphony Orchestra mimed key parts of its performance at the opening ofthe Sydney Games in 2000.
And it gets better - it was, in fact, the MelbourneSymphony Orchestra whose brilliant playing was heard by millions around theworld at the Sydney Olympic opening ceremony.
The MSO's superior sounds (pre-recorded just for theceremony) were played as the orchestra went through the motions - the showbizshort cut of using "backing tapes", usually done to carry ageing orincompetent performers. Remember Milli Vanilli?
So, when everyone was tut-tutting about seven-year-oldsinger Yang Peiyi being replaced by the "prettier" Lin Miaoke for theBeijing Games opening two weeks ago, there must have been much squirming at theSSO's Pitt Street headquarters.
For eight years it has been one of the best-kept secrets in Sin
City.
