Symphony's Schwarz breaks leg

Gerard Schwarz will be conducting Beethoven's Ninth later this month from a stool, instead of his usual stance on the podium.

The maestro suffered a broken left leg and ankle (the latter requiring surgery) last week while skiing in Canada. Nonetheless, he showed up for a Seattle radio interview Monday and is keeping to his usual schedule.

"I always knew it was a dangerous sport, but I wish I could have been convinced another way," Schwarz said in a weekend e-mail.

He is scheduled to conduct Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at 8 p.m. Dec. 28 and 29, and 2 p.m. Dec. 30 — plus the New Year's Eve festivities — at Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle. 206-215-4747 or www.seattlesymphony.org.

Melinda Bargreen,

Seattle Times music critic

The information in this article, originally published December 12, 2007, was corrected December 13, 2007. Seattle Symphony conductor Gerard Schwarz was injured in a skiing accident at Whistler, B.C. A previous version of the story gave an incorrect location.