No longer Urgent!: On R3's live evening concerts

[hafod]

My only niggle at the moment is that there seems to be an increase in presenters strutting their stuff from the platform, rather than the presenter's booth. I find this vaguely irritating, though I realise that others will probably disagree.

Agreed. Presenters should be heard and not seen.

[Andrew Slater]

It's been touched on above, but I think it would be worth asking how sustainable the five live concerts per week are, particularly in view of the forthcoming spending cuts. The introduction of this amount of live broadcasting is greatly appreciated, but broadcasting the concerts live must cost more: the OB unit is tied up, it has to be sent to the venue, together with its associated staff and the presenter, and an additional announcer in Broadcasting House has to be paid. My worry is that the live broadcasts might disappear as suddenly as they appeared. Has the Controller any cunning plans to prevent this which he is prepared to share with the audience? (e.g. cuts elsewhere?)

Also, the new Sunday Concert is very much appreciated. Is it a permanent feature, or a stop-gap measure to mop up the backlog of recorded concerts and future recording commitments which, for one reason or another, cannot be broadcast live?

[aeolium]

Also, I wonder whether the commitment to 100% live concerts is all together a good thing - Mondays are notoriously dead as far as concerts around the country are concerned (though there is always something in London, of course) and it does limit R3's flexibility to a considerable degree. The sensible thing for R3 to do would be to somewhat relax the 100% commitment at some time in the future (though continuing to do the presentation, "as live", from the venue).

I agree with that comment. For me, having concerts at 7.30 is more important than whether they are live or deferred broadcasts. Having a mix of live and deferred would allow greater flexibility in the use, in the autumn/winter, of recorded concerts from the summer festivals, or indeed in broadcasts of European concerts. That would enable variety and quality to be maintained rather than a constant diet of standard repertoire concerts.

[pilamenon]

I've been pleased at how varied the programmes have been. I do prefer it when the R3 presenter introduces from the sidelines rather than the stage, as you get more of a sense of atmosphere. Highlight so far - the Vienna Piano Trio at the Newbury Spring Festival.

Agree that "as live" would be a very acceptable way of maintaining the variety when autumn arrives. And occasional programmes devoted to contemporary music would be most welcome, too.

[french frank]

I used to reckon in the 'old days' that if there were two concerts a week (out of five) that were really to my taste, that would be very satisfactory. If most people have similarly low expectations, that leaves some leeway for variety - including contemporary concerts.

[hackneyvi]

I do prefer it when the R3 presenter introduces from the sidelines rather than the stage, as you get more of a sense of atmosphere.

As listener, I find this considerably affects my sense of intimacy. When the presenter is talking from the stage, he is addressing an audience of people present in that room, the listener at home feels like an afterthought. Whereas, when addressing the listener directly from the sidelines, the presenter are my eyes in the hall and I have some sense of being part of the radio audience, collectively attending.

[french frank]

As listener, I find this considerably affects my sense of intimacy. When the presenter is talking from the stage, he is addressing an audience of people present in that room, the listener at home feels like an afterthought. Whereas, when addressing the listener directly from the sidelines, the presenter are my eyes in the hall and I have some sense of being part of the radio audience, collectively attending.

I think this is a very valid point - though I suspect Radio 3 will be mumbling that when we can't complain about the live music, the start time and all the other things they've put right - we find something else to moan about

I remember when live recitals came from St George's, the presenter (often Chris de Souza) would address the audience in the hall and say whatever he wanted to before the broadcast began, then withdrawing with his microphone to a remote corner where he could speak to the listeners at home. But first he would ask us all to keep talking while waiting for the performer(s) to arrive. A cunning but effective way of drawing the radio listener into the atmosphere of the hall.

[Peter Katin]

Contents OK, upcoming looks interesting, bit less eclectic than I personally want, but let that pass,

We were all DELIGHTED when the first tranche began at 7.30, so why go back to 7 p.m.?? Surely a real marketing MINUS if they keep shifting the start times - confuses and annoys punters.

Also WHY do we have to have random bits of chatter / interviews in the midst etc?

I quite agree about the chatter, and what is the level of intelligence of those who manage the trailers? Singer of the World, this time, is completely stupid.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

- though I suspect Radio 3 will be mumbling that when we can't complain about the live music, the start time and all the other things they've put right - we find something else to moan about

Ah, um, yes. You (and they) might have a fair point.

[french frank]

I've now got a bit more information. The programme will be focusing on how the concerts are set up, talking with the editor, Edward Blakeman, and with Martin Handley. Tomorrow afternoon, they will be at the Spitalfields festival, preparing for the evening concert by I Fagiolini, with Robert Hollingworth.

They want some listener reaction to the aspect of 'live' broadcasts. But there will also be a chance 'to voice any concerns with the editor'. So aspects of presentation are relevant - has the presenter been talking with performers in mid-concert, or only in the interval? Do we feel useful background information is better broadcast before the concert? Has the variety of repertoire been good (people seem to think so).

On the future of 'Live In Concert': would it be looking the proverbial gifthorse &c &c to suggest that, all things considered, possibly fewer live concerts during the week would be better, with more flexibility to cherry-pick the best concerts? [But, 'No', presumably, to going back to the newly abandoned studio presentation for pre-recorded concerts??]

[Frances_iom]

I've now got a bit more information. The programme will be focusing on how the concerts are set up, talking with the editor, Edward Blakeman, and with Martin Handley...]

maybe they might come clean about their intended audience which must influence who they support (and I suspect nudge the programme the direction they would like to see) - they have purpose built studios at Salford + elsewhere which require no OB unit - use these for the supposedly dead Monday slot - maybe a regular outing for living composers might build up an audience (tho I suspect most wouldn't be to my taste - something seems to have gone 'wrong' since the days when Britten etc were living 'modern' composers with a significant following)

[DracoM]

Yes, BEFORE the concert.

Get all the chat out of the way, and then let us hear the music. If there is to be an interval, then it is perfectly OK to slot in pre-recorded chat / background then. MH is a good interviewer, does his homework and I'd far prefer to hear him asking probing questions based on his own knowledge / research, and thus able to develop the questions from the answers he has received, rather than work his way through ticking boxes someone else has prepared for him eg Aled Jones?

[johnb]

Just one further thought. I'm not keen on music being programmed during the interval. If I am listening to a concert I prefer the music of the first half to stay in my mind during the interval rather than being cancelled out by sundry musical bits and pieces. For me it also detracts from the 'feel' of listening in to a live concert. It becomes more of a constant stream of (almost) musak. (After all you don't switch on your iPad to listen to something else during the interval of a concert you are present at.) The interval is a time to absorb and reflect on what you have heard and to look forward to the second half. I do realise, thought, that it is much easier and much cheaper to play a couple of CDs than to commission a speech based interval programme.

Beside the usual interval formats (often a short story) one suggestion would be to do a 'Discovering Music'-lite during the interval of some concerts, concentrating on the main work in the second half or twenty minutes looking at an aspect of the life and/or work of the composer of a work after the interval, etc, etc.

Oh course, it goes without saying, that the live concerts are a tremendous improvement on the previous studio presented recordings. For me the important factor is that the concert is broadcast live or "as live" with the presentation from the hall. The previous studio presentation of edited recordings totally drained the concerts of any atmosphere and I now find myself listening to Po3 much, much more than I have in recent years.

Whether a few concerts start at 7:00pm is irrelevant as far as I am concerned.

[french frank]

Beside the usual interval formats (often a short story) one suggestion would be to do a 'Discovering Music'-lite during the interval of some concerts, concentrating on the main work in the second half or twenty minutes looking at an aspect of the life and/or work of the composer of a work after the interval, etc, etc.

I think the week after next there's a concert of Bartók and Kodály, with some of their(?) field recordings of Hungarian folk music in the interval. I thought that was an interesting idea - I hope that music will be acceptable! I think it will focus the mind on the concert music rather than distract.



This is the programme:

Thursday 23 June
7.30-10.00pm BBC RADIO 3
Live from the Royal Festival Hall, London, The Philharmonia plays three classics by 20th-century Hungarians – part of the Philharmonia's Infernal Dance series.
They are Zoltán Kodály's Dances Of Galanta and Bela Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2 and Concerto for Orchestra.
In the interval there's a chance to hear some of the field recordings made in the villages of Hungary by Bartók and his friend Kodály.

[Daring Tripod]

As far as I am concerned this will be a great concert as previous ones in the series have been, of very high music standard. The interval subject is very relevant to the music in this case and who cares if the programme starts at 7.00 or 7.30? How many people would stop going because of the commencement time? The mere fact that this is a live concert in the series should add to the the enjoyment.