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

[BBMmk2]

I always feel that the very fact that it's 'live', then it is all the better. You just cannot get the same feeling of a 'live' concert, than what yoiu get from a recording, no matter how good that recording is!!

[Bryn]

Hmm, while being glad to have the return to near live broadcasts, this pedant would dare to point out that with all the digital processing involved, DAB, Freeview, Satellite, the online HD Sound option, etc., get delayed by a second or so more than FM does, so are somewhat less 'live'.

I do find that I am tuning in at the time of transmission far more often than I use to during the period when Wright had effectively abandoned the Radio 3 policy of live evening concerts. I also find the range of content fairly encouraging. That too reflects a return to the policy that obtained prior to Wright's appointment. Hopefully he is at last beginning to get the hang of the job.

As to the mode of presentation, I am not much bothered whether it is from the stage or a side box, just so long as it is relevant and does not interfere with the performance.

[Frances_iom]

.. That too reflects a return to the policy that obtained prior to Wright's appointment. Hopefully he is at last beginning to get the hang of the job..

good that means he might be promoted out of it soon - Salford probably needs a director of Car Parking (the old Japanese sideways promotion) - I too find I've been listening more often - one attraction is that I don't get the critics' comments before I've heard it myself nor those annoying little extracts in the trails.

[french frank]

Well, the deed is done. Chris Newman and I have been allowed our say. We are now at the mercy of the editor's (virtual) scissors. I'll be a bit miffed if the two of us are somehow set against each other, with Chris singing the praises of R3 and the concerts, and me moaning about the presenters on the stage . I gathered together all the points people had made, and they selected the ones they wanted to ask me about - and those could be edited down to the concerns rather than the praise. I hope not

[Chris Newman]

Being discreet like ff I shall refrain from comment till after the broadcast.

[french frank]

Being discreet like ff I shall refrain from comment till after the broadcast.

You had a much more exciting time than I did - you met people

[Chris Newman]

What can I say, frank? You should have come. All that Purcell.....

[Flay]

Well, the deed is done. Chris Newman and I have been allowed our say. We are now at the mercy of the editor's (virtual) scissors. I'll be a bit miffed if the two of us are somehow set against each other, with Chris singing the praises of R3 and the concerts, and me moaning about the presenters on the stage . I gathered together all the points people had made, and they selected the ones they wanted to ask me about - and those could be edited down to the concerns rather than the praise. I hope not

Nice to hear you, ff - and Chris. Yes, I did think that they portrayed you/FoR3 as being generally critical. I would have liked them to say more about the costs of live versus recorded: "about the same" is too vague. They also did not tell us if this is a flash in the pan or if live evenings will continue.

[Chris Newman]

It was a very short clip airing just a little of the subject matter we discussed. I think that Feedback tries to cover too many topics in the time available. Edward Blakeman, Roger Bolton and I talked for close on an hour in and around different parts of Shoreditch Church.

[Frances_iom]

What can I say, frank? You should have come. All that Purcell..:

not sure whether it was responsible for the whitewash and non-critical look - however we now have it on record that the cost of live concerts is about the same as the studio tape, splice and cackle arrangement that RW came up with - since it apparently saved no money do we now assume it was an ideological choice on his part to change R3 ?

[salymap]

What do they mean, 500 members. We have 684 last time I looked. Congratulations ff and Chris, the final broadcast was in the BBC's hands and I would have liked a discussion in a quiet studio.

At least they know we are here and maybe this kind of thing will grow.

[DracoM]

Excellent post, Frances_iom.

What irks me is the recent spate of trails for it as if there had never been any live concerts EVER before in the history of world broadcasting, and deffo never on Radio 3.

Yeah, and neat editing to make sure that nothing contentious, critical was actually faced. Chris Newman very carefully chaperoned asnd interrupted and sound-run-over almost every other word to make sure we got smooth talking Edward Blakeman and cheery ignoramus RB, with Chris smilingly elbowed into the background. Totally agree that a quiet studio would have added point, and would have given Chris - an astute commentator on R3 things - far more space.

As it was IMO both FF and Chris were effectively enmeshed in an away match on the opposition's terms and the oppos had the final edit in their hands. Clever. Anaesthetics AnonymousRUS = Feedback.


Pah!

[Frances_iom]

Clever. Anaesthetics AnonymousRUS = Feedback.
Pah!

Feedback was silenced some time ago - what you are now hearing is the PR team's whitewash of criticism buried in a great dollop of goo - not one of R4's proudest achievements and certainly an ignomous end to a once great programme

[Chris Newman]

Much of what I raised on Wednesday was cut out presumably as there were only 10 minutes or so of the programme to get everything in including Sarah and Robert Hollingworth. Sadly 50 per cent of that included in the broadcast was what I feel was small talk to set the churchy atmosphere: indeed the blurb for the programme on its webpage sets a bland tone....

"Radio 3 devotee Chris Newman joins Roger for a behind the scenes visit to a live broadcast and find out some of the unexpected things that can go wrong during a performance."

Our conversation about the importance of live concerts was greatly trimmed. I stressed my belief that live perfomance was important because there is an actual feeling of an emotional bond with the performance and performers, something special and which mere CD's and recordings do not have. Robert Hollingworth put it well when he spoke of the danger felt by performer and listener. I mentioned that Monday's live cinema relay of ROH Macbeth had the audience clapping and cheering. We all confessed to doing the same at home when listening. Most of the talk was about live concerts. The important thing was the admission by Edward Blakeman that it costs the same to broadcast a concert whether it is live or pre-recorded.

I argued about the relevance and irrelevance of some interval programming. I cited a recent concert of Renaissance Spanish music by the BBC Singers where the mood in the break was horribly shattered by the Rite of Spring. I said that by and large the feedback about playing records in the intervals was mixed.

As Edward Blakeman was there and is responsible for sound particularly at the Proms I mentioned the sudden sag in volume/sound quality at loud moments in orchestral works. He talked about the perameters within which radio and tv could work as opposed to Cds. We had several takes on this as everyone got stuck on words: probably because we were in the OB van and had about 6 sound engineers ear-wigging.

Finally I wanted to give some praise where praise is due and said people generally liked the return to 7.30 start times but they told me that there was not time to include this in Feedback. EB did say that their general rule will be to start evening concerts when the promoter decides, so 7.00pm or 8.00pm starts are still possible.

[DracoM]

You wuz nobbled, Chris, mate!