Musicians in the London Symphony Orchestra will have to mime their performance in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics because a live performance is deemed too risky.

The shape of the Olympic stadium and worries about the weather mean that a performance recorded six weeks ago will be played during the show while the players go through the motions, apparently against the wishes of Danny Boyle, the artistic director.

The news rekindles the controversy of Lin Miaoke, the nine-year-old girl who mimed a song during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics because her voice was judged to not be good enough – while the seven-year-old whose voice was recorded, Yang Peiyi, was considered not sufficiently pretty.

The decision was criticised by orchestra members. "The LSO is one of the best orchestras in the world and we're being asked to mime in front of a global audience of billions," one anonymous musician told the Mail on Sunday.