Conductor multi-tasks

PITTSBURGH -- Desperate artistic times called for desperate artistic measures. So when the tenor got sick, the conductor stepped in to save the performance of “Aida.”

Pittsburgh Opera musical director Antony Walker sang into a microphone from the pit while still conducting the orchestra as ailing tenor Vladimir Kuzmenko lip-synced on stage during the final act one night this week.

“It was an amazing experience,” Walker said. “I could feel the orchestra and the audience were with me. And I hope I never have to do that again.”

Walker, a trained vocalist, often sings during rehearsals.

“I have sung every note of ‘Aida.’ I do that with every opera I prepare,” Walker said. “I find you can empathize with the singers better.”

Kuzmenko told artistic director Christopher Hahn that he was ill the afternoon before the performance, so Hahn arranged for a substitute, Eduardo Villa of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, to replace him.

Villa was scheduled to arrive halfway through the performance, because Kuzmenko’s doctor felt he could begin the performance. But when Villa’s flight was delayed, Walker was pressed into double duty.