Should BBC presenters express judgements on the performance?

[cloughie]

In my experience that's a rather crude tool - it jumps in rather large segments. (Perhaps there's a trick to that I haven't spotted...?)

Mouse!

[joseph green]

I don't mind enthusiastic presenters at all when they enthuse over the qualities of a particular piece of music, but perhaps they ought to reflect on the fact that not every performance is successful. Some presenters are totally indiscriminate over their praise. I am still waiting for KD to say "well, that was pretty awful wasn't it?" Then I might take her seriously, but until then....come back Cormac Rigby all is forgotten....

[kernelbogey]

My thoughts on starting this thread, perhaps not clearly expressed, were about presenters/announcers at live (or as-live) broadcasts - not about presenters who are mainly playing CDs. Rob Cowan often says something like 'I don't think that recording has ever been bettered' - which I find useful, given his encylopaedic knowledge of the recorded repertoire.

I once had the privilege of editing the programmes for a major arts organisation and it was the policy to edit the artists' biographies, which came from their agents laced with language such as 'X is widely regarded as the world's leading performer of YYY', to remove such superlatives - which seemed to me a very sound policy.

My point was that the BBC is in a sense the promoter of any concert broadcast (at least as far as the listener is concerned) and therefore for a presenter to say 'That was a stunning performance' etc is really inappropriate. On the other hand to say 'The applause is continuing, the audience obviously really liked that performance' is appropriately descriptive.

As others have said, the primary school didactic style now seems to be de riguer.

[Serial_Apologist]

Tom Service (with a smile) went completely OTT following last night's Prom of Beethoven 8, describing the work in Pseuds Corner terms as maybe even questioning the very nature of music, or words to that effect, without further explanation or qualification of any kind.

Is this normal?

[french frank]

Tom Service (with a smile) went completely OTT following last night's Prom of Beethoven 8, describing the work in Pseuds Corner terms as maybe even questioning the very nature of music, or words to that effect, without further explanation or qualification of any kind.

Is this normal?

Do you mean, Is it usual? I've gathered so.

[Black Swan]

I think how we respond to any presenter/announcer is a point of personal taste. I have gotten to expect presenters to be overly positive on performances. I really don't mind. I am less enamored of the R3 presenters who's opinions I am not interested in hearing. I listen to radio 3 for music not the opinions of presenters.

John

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Tom Service (with a smile) went completely OTT following last night's Prom of Beethoven 8, describing the work in Pseuds Corner terms as maybe even questioning the very nature of music, or words to that effect, without further explanation or qualification of any kind.

My partner heard his comments and said "He takes himself far too seriously!" (the withering tone cannot adequately be communicated here).

The sad thing is that, at his best, TS is a real asset to R3. His interviews with Birtwistle (last year before the Prom of the Violin Concerto and a couple of months back for Hear & Now) were wonderful - drawing out real answers to questions that HB initially tried to avoid with his usual blustering persona; and enjoying discovering his own "real" answers to the questions.

And much of the information TS gave in his introductions to these Proms was splendid.

But then ...

[Word]

Tom Service (with a smile) went completely OTT following last night's Prom of Beethoven 8

Whereas Katie was a model of restraint and understatement following Beethoven's 9th, leaving plenty of time for the applause and at no point offering us her opinion of the performance. (A shame Frances_iom won't have been listening.)

[ahinton]

Do you mean, Is it usual? I've gathered so.

"Normal" "service" - will sadly almost certainly be resumed before you can say Jancis Robinson; he can get it sort of OK on occasion but, as a rule, it's usually something without a substantial proportion of which one could easily do...

[Frances_iom]

... (A shame Frances_iom won't have been listening.)

made me think - yes Wright has won - once very frequent listener to R3 now I'm very selective (usually only COTW + the lunchtime chamber concert + about 50% of evening concerts unless I'd already got into CDs) - usually don't listen to R3 at all on Sundays. I suspect that I'd be indifferent now if the present R3-lite was shut down, the only BBC product I'd miss was R4 for the news + few other speech programs tho the recent 'popularisation' of several of these inc the news and the all too frequent adverts make me suspect I would miss that less and less as long as the present trend continues

[Don Petter]

I don't mind enthusiastic presenters at all when they enthuse over the qualities of a particular piece of music, but perhaps they ought to reflect on the fact that not every performance is successful. Some presenters are totally indiscriminate over their praise. I am still waiting for KD to say "well, that was pretty awful wasn't it?" Then I might take her seriously, but until then....come back Cormac Rigby all is forgotten....

I wouldn't really expect a 'presenter' to say very negative things after a live performance, and effectively shame performers in public without their being able to respond.

However, one might expect sometimes to hear limited or restrained comments after a poor performance, but this never seems to happen. Now, everything is smothered with superlatives willy-nilly, which does undermine the whole credibility of the speaker.

(Perhaps 'damning with faint praise' has become a lost art?)

[Nick Armstrong]

(Perhaps 'damning with faint praise' has become a lost art?)

Rob Cowan said something interesting in his chat with J Trollope this morning - something like "The strongest love is shown by being a stern critic". By that standard, the majority of 'commentators' fail lamentably to prove they love what they're hearing when gushing idiotically about being blown away by fabulousness...

[Sydney Grew]

. . . which they apparently equate with a 'heavy' style . . .

I think we must now face the fact that the old Radio 3 (or Third Programme as I still call it) is gone forever. Nothing can ever bring it back, so there is little point in flogging a dead horse or shutting the stable door.

Personally I have not tuned in for over a year.

Let cultured people seek elsewhere, and they will surely find.

[cloughie]

I think we must now face the fact that the old Radio 3 (or Third Programme as I still call it) is gone forever. Nothing can ever bring it back, so there is little point in flogging a dead horse or shutting the stable door.

Personally I have not tuned in for over a year.

Let cultured people seek elsewhere, and they will surely find.

Sad and rather negative - whilst not thinking it realistic to expect everything you want from dawn until dusk on R3, to turn off completely has 'a hint of biting off the nose to spite the face'. However annoying the presenters it should not get in the way of the music. eg Breakfast is a complete mess but there are many good things played on EC.

[salymap]

Rob Cowan said something interesting in his chat with J Trollope this morning - something like "The strongest love is shown by being a stern critic". By that standard, the majority of 'commentators' fail lamentably to prove they love what they're hearing when gushing idiotically about being blown away by fabulousness...

That's funny. When I heard the expression used here- 'damning with' etc I immediately thought of RC, who is rather clever in his record reviews and other programmes where he adds a comment that makes one realise his approval of whatever he's reviewing is qualified in some way.