[Kitchen Music] [La Racchia Orchestra]
"Pots and Pandemonium" - Two 1958 Press Photographs
Two charming original 1958 press photographs of the "La Racchia Orchestra," an Italian musical ensemble of the 1950's, playing their strange home-made kitchen utensil instruments. The first photograph shows two men in the foreground playing a grill as a guitar and a huge saxophone-like creation made out of stove pipes and spoons; the second shows a a jovial man playing a coffee grinder. With original press captions on the verso dated May 3, 1958. Lightly wrinkled; otherwise very good. 8 x 10.25 inches (20.5 x 25.4 cm). Remarkable images of ebullient music making!Popular Mechanics published a story on the group in their November 1958 issue, reporting: "Have you ever heard the plaintive strains of 'O Sole Mio' as written for coffee grinder and frying pan? It begins with a soft pizzicato from the cheese graters as the conductor of the La Racchia orchestra lowers the big spoon in his right hand. The spoon is the baton for maestro Emilio Casagrande who directs the straw-hatted musicians as they produce melodies from kitchen utensils and other household items." (14521)
Unsigned Photograph Classical Music