On Air Now
Calm Classics with Myleene Klass 10pm - 1am
9 March 2020, 17:00 | Updated: 9 March 2020, 17:35
Russian singer Anastasia Vishnevskaya didn’t notice the front of the stage until she fell straight into the orchestra pit.
A Russian singer plunged 10 feet from a theatre stage and broke her foot – and carried on singing while lying flat-out in the orchestra pit.
Anastasia Vishnevskaya, 30, was performing on International Women’s Day for a 1,375-strong audience in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, when she fell off the stage.
Unable to stand, she was helped onto a chair by one of the musicians. Anastasia later found out she had fractured her foot and suffered major bruising.
For her last few bars, the pit was raised so audiences could see Anastasia perform the rest of her song, ‘100 Hours of Happiness’.
After the performance (watch below), Anastasia went straight to hospital for emergency surgery.
Read more: Virtuoso pianist corrects page-turner in one brutal gesture >
Heart-stopping moment a Russian singer falls 10ft off the stage
Posting from hospital, the singer objected to ‘false’ claims online that her fall had proved she wasn’t singing live.
“I didn’t notice the edge of the stage and fell into the orchestra pit on the musicians who were preparing for the next number,” Anastasia said. “I was lying on my tummy singing the song…
“Spiteful critics only discuss the fact that I continued to sing despite the trauma – and blame me for not singing live.”
Read more: Audience member at Beethoven concert tests positive for coronavirus >
“I wish there was less hatred and envy around us. On the video I don’t sound as clear as I wish I did,” Anastasia continued.
“But since this was definitely live please enjoy it as it is.”
Some audience members, who can be heard gasping in the video, thought the fall was all part of the act.
Concert presenter Roman Bogdanov said: “I am certain that very few artists in the world would be able to finish singing in such extreme situation after falling into an orchestra pit, breaking a foot and getting bruised.
“Some in the audience (wrongly) believed it was pre-planned.”
Stay safe out there, musicians.