It's also unlikely you'd find orchestras touring, with the RSNO doing a one-week residence on Shetland earlier this year.

BBC: Moolah maestro, please

According to Kenneth Osborne, the RSNO's sponsorship income is "pretty good" in UK terms, "but it's absolutely peanuts in American terms".

BBC: Moolah maestro, please

Osborne is a former cellist who took to accountancy and has kept the RSNO finances in tune for the past five years.

BBC: Moolah maestro, please

Among those whose shareholders don't resent companies offering support for the arts are RSNO sponsors Capital Solutions, The Courier newspaper, Weir Group and Miller Group, along with Shell and Total, the latter financing a 'naked classics' programme focussed recently on the north-east.

BBC: Moolah maestro, please