Royal Philharmonic sells household appliances

Royal Philharmonic sells household appliances

Orchestras

norman lebrecht

November 23, 2022

The orchestra has joined up with the retailer Argos to encourage Black Friday shoppoing.

Humour in advertising?

Not sure.



To celebrate Black Friday we commissioned the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to create the first ever orchestral performance made using household electrical devices – all of which feature in our Black Friday deals. An ensemble of eight musicians played Blue Danube Waltz on electrical appliances in place of their usual instruments – from a bassoonist playing a vacuum to a harpist playing a toothbrush. We hope you enjoy watching and listening as you browse our brilliant Black Friday deals at argos.co.uk.

Comments

  • Barry says:

    Shades of Gerard Hoffnung.

  • Elsie says:

    Can they call on ACE to hoover up the mess?

  • Cindyloohoo says:

    Cringe

  • E says:

    Oh dear. They should have had their grant cut and not the WNO

  • Rob Keeley says:

    I’m sure, based on past experience, that the sounds made by a hand-drier are of much greater significance than most of the pretentious rubbish played at the Huddersfield Festival.

  • Greg Bottini says:

    Brilliant! British humo(u)r at its wackiest!
    But why isn’t John Cleese conducting?

  • David A. Boxwell says:

    Malcolm Arnold composed for household appliances.

  • Larry W says:

    Years ago, Luciano Pavarotti appeared with Joan Sutherland in a Houston concert conducted by Richard Bonynge. The large venue was not a concert hall and had no formal dressing rooms for the artists. When Sutherland was performing, the sound of Pavarotti using a hair-dryer backstage was clearly audible onstage. While that was a sign of the times, we now have the time of the signs.

  • c says:

    And why not. Gets RPO’s name out there, perhaps to new audiences, and helps them be less reliant on funding. I wish we had more of this stuff.

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