An Italian-born conductor who pierced his hand with a baton during a concert said he's feeling fine.
"Yes, I'm all right now. And on Sunday I will conduct a Viva Verdi concert," 70-year-old Giovanni Impellizzeri told The Associated Press.
Impellizzeri pierced his left hand with his baton in the middle of the first act of Vincenzo Bellini's opera "Il Pirata" at the Stockholm Vasa theater almost two weeks ago.
"I did not feel a thing, I just saw the baton sticking out of the hand and thought it looked funny," Bellini said.
"Then I quickly pulled it out. I was scared stiff that blood would gush from the wound, but there was almost no blood at all and I thought, OK, I'll continue. I licked the wound and the orchestra did not notice anything. It was a small wonder I did not faint, but it did not hurt at all," he said.
During intermission, Impellizzeri had the wound disinfected and dressed by a nurse, and then went back to work.