Danish National Chamber Orchestra play on despite a mouthful of fire.

The members of the Danish National Chamber Orchestra could reasonably feel quite unhappy at present, since the ensemble is set to disband at the end of this year. However it seems the DNCO have still got a healthy sense of humour after participating in a rather bizarre video: performing a fiery tango while eating “the hottest chilli peppers in the world”.

In a video posted on the YouTube channel of “Danish Chilli enthusiast” Chilli Klaus, the ensemble begin playing Tango Jalousie by Danish composer Jacob Gade. After a short introduction every member of the ensemble pops a small, angry-looking chilli into their mouths and continue playing. Remarkably the performance isn’t conspicuously damaged, although from the gurning expressions and streaming tears on the faces of the performers its clear that they are feeling the effects of the spicy vegetable.

It’s not entirely obvious what the video was intended to promote or achieve – perhaps a kind of subtle protest at the orchestra’s imminent fate. However, regardless of the video’s intended effect, having already been viewed over 1.4 million times since it was posted four days ago, the surreal experiment has definitely become a viral hit.