Presenters/News readers

[VodkaDilc]

I HATED that programme - especially Joyce Grenfell showing off and Joseph Cooper's silent (thank God) piano.
)

I enjoyed the programme. Joyce Grenfell was delightfully dippy and Joseph Cooper just remined me of my old Grammar School Music teacher. The one I couldn't take to was the rather smug Robin Ray - he always seemed to be proof of the huge gulf between reciting facts and opus numbers and really appreciating the music. They had some really major musical figures on it - I recall Walton being slightly grumpy about the whole business, almost as if he was there under protest, but knew there was a fee at the end.


My Music always seemed like an inferior musical version of My Word.

[mercia]

I rather liked the dummy keyboard round - and those things are quite fun to play too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLYcWln0uQg

[MickyD]

I loathed Bernard Levin on the programme...so up himself it wasn't true, and it was with particular delight that I once saw him get a fairly easy question wrong on Schubert.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Sometimes Radio presenters make errors that show a lack of research, but this afternoon, I was listening to Classic FM in the car, and heard the 1st movement of Beethoven 9. It was one of those performances that sounded to me to be a little too fast, bout played on modern instruments. I waited until the end of the movement (this being CFM meant there was no chance whatever of the other 3 movements) to find out the names of the performers.
The announcer obliged: "That was 'Eroica - the last movement - played by The Scottish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras.

Who employs these people?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Who employs these people?

The BBC, eventually.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The BBC, eventually.

[Ferretfancy]

I HATED that programme - especially Joyce Grenfell showing off and Joseph Cooper's silent (thank God) piano.

Steve Race's "My Music" with panelists Frank Muir, Denis Norden, Ian Wallace and John Amis showed how it should be done - on Radio 4 and later on television; to both entertain and inform the viewing public.

HS (Still around, but off on my hols soon)

The most nauseating thing about that programme was the spectacle of panellists who had obviously been primed with the answers, but put on a show of ignorance for the sake of entertainment. There was one classic moment though, when Imogen Cooper ( no relation) was the week's guest, Joseph Cooper asked her if she had a question, and she replied 'Yes, why are you such a bad pianist?"

[ahinton]

I enjoyed the programme. Joyce Grenfell was delightfully dippy and Joseph Cooper just remined me of my old Grammar School Music teacher. The one I couldn't take to was the rather smug Robin Ray - he always seemed to be proof of the huge gulf between reciting facts and opus numbers and really appreciating the music. They had some really major musical figures on it - I recall Walton being slightly grumpy about the whole business, almost as if he was there under protest, but knew there was a fee at the end.

Always helps, does that - especially if one's a composer...

My Music always seemed like an inferior musical version of My Word.

I used to think that this was the very point of it, especially given the Muir & Norden input. As to Walton, I recall him in a different context subjecting himself to a particularly nauseating piece of inept interviewing that sounded as though each question was deliberately designed to be even more puerile than the preceding one and the composer made every effort to avoid responding as he no doubt felt like doing - until he was asked which piece by another composer did he wish above all others that he'd written and he suddenly came to life and retorted "that's easy - Schubert's Trio in B flat!"; the fact that it was unclear whether he actually meant it or whether it was code for "for ****'s sake stop asking silly questions" was probably what made the embarrassingly unmemorable memorable on that occasion...

[ahinton]

The BBC, eventually.

If that is indeed the most unfortunate case, then the sooner it hands them all onto one of its (or some other broadcaster's) competitive game show or similar the better; the pity is, however, that when any of them do eventually turn up on such a television programme, it doesn't mean that they've abandoned Radio 3. No names, no pack drill and all that, but maid take her and Moll burn thy licence somehow spring to mind...

[french frank]

The BBC, eventually.

RadioCentre (commercial radio's representative organisation) once pointed out that at one point it would have been possible to listen to Radio 3 from 6.30am until 4.30pm, with all the presenters being former-Classic FM bar one hour (CotW).

Incidentally, I spotted an online discussion between CFM listeners where it emerged they thought one of their presenters obviously knew nothing about classical music and did no basic research. As the judgement of CFM listeners, that might be considered pretty damning. As to the identity of that presenter and current whereabouts I reveal nothing

[usher]

If that is indeed the most unfortunate case, then the sooner it hands them all onto one of its (or some other broadcaster's) competitive game show or similar the better; the pity is, however, that when any of them do eventually turn up on such a television programme, it doesn't mean that they've abandoned Radio 3. No names, no pack drill and all that, but maid take her and Moll burn thy licence somehow spring to mind...

[pastoralguy]

I loathed Bernard Levin on the programme...so up himself it wasn't true, and it was with particular delight that I once saw him get a fairly easy question wrong on Schubert.

Have you ever read his book 'Conducted Tour' where he brags about a year of visiting various music festivals? It manages to be both interesting and nauseating at the same time! (IMHO!)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Have you ever read his book 'Conducted Tour' where he brags about a year of visiting various music festivals? It manages to be both interesting and nauseating at the same time! (IMHO!)

And occasionally very funny - the Irish kids shouting "It's Jack the Ripper!" as he walked past them in full regalia on his way to a production at Wexford Opera; and the slippery stage in one production which inadvertently turned Act One of Norma (IIRC) into an episode of Cavorting on Ice. (By Act Two, they'd sprinkled the floor with sugar, so the hilarity stopped.)

[usher]

Have you ever read his book 'Conducted Tour' where he brags about a year of visiting various music festivals? It manages to be both interesting and nauseating at the same time! (IMHO!)

I agree that he could be very much 'the ego has landed', but his was a sad end to what, at its best, was a career of fine, intelligent writing. Johnson on Swift comes to mind.

[AndyJW]

Not sure if this is the right place but I’ve noticed that this week’s Saturday lunchtime Concert was presented by David Cornett, one of the regular news readers on R3.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b042bdd2

Come to think of it, the first programme of the series was presented by Jill Anderson, another news reader. Both are obviously perfectly capable of ‘sight reading’ any script but not presenters of music related programmes. David Cornett sounded very awkward.

This is a reverse situation of the point made on the Eternal Breakfast Debate by muzzer #3626 (and others).yesterday.

Is Radio3 short of presenters / newsreaders? Or doesn’t it care how its programmes sound to the listeners? What’s going on?

David Cornett regularly presented radio 3 programmes a few years ago until so called 'Personality Presenters' arrived.