Radio 3 Programming - Problems & Solutions

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

So that's when the rot set in...

No, not really, Oddy - occasional programmes of "highlights" lasting an hour or less have always been featured on R3. The rot set in when it was decided that this sort of programme (but without the "focus" of a specialist guest presenter's creating a "theme" or "focus" to the programme) should dominate the schedules for six hours a day, five days a week.

[DracoM]

[MrGongGong]

Below the schedule for the final week of Nicholas Kenyon, w/c 2 Nov 1998. It could just be that some people would prefer non-stop music and no talk whatsoever, but this reminds me of what I used to love about Radio 3:

06.00 On Air with Stephanie Hughes reviewing the British premiere of John Adams piano concerto Century Rolls
09.00 Masterworks with Peter Hobday, featuring orchestral music by Britten and vintage performances by Rudolf Firkusny
10.30 Artist of the Week. Joan Bakewell interviews Tasmin Little
11.00 Sound Stories. Donald Macleod presents musical portraits of 5 absolute rulers 1. Alexander the Great
12.00 Composer of the Week. Simon Heighes explores the career of Claudio Monteverdi
13.00 The Lunchtime Concert: Wigmore Hall. Vermeer 4tet perform string quartets by Beethoven and Bartok
14.00 BBC Orchestras. BBC Phil with YP Tortelier Lalo, Beethoven and Prokofiev
16.00 Opera in Action: Ruth Mackenzie, general director of Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of operatic highlights
16.45 The Music Machine. Tommy Pearson talks to Catherine Bott about Dynamics
17.00 In Tune with guest presenter (as he was called) Humphrey Carpenter
19.30 Performance on 3 BBCSSO, Osmo Vanska. Nielsen, Rachmaninov. Geoffrey Baskerville in conversation with Osmo Vanska about Nielsen’s Symphony No 2
21.40 Postscript: 5 specially commissioned dramatic monologues
22.00 Voices. Studio recital The Soldier by Christopher Maltman with Andrew Smith. In conversation with Iain Burnside
22.45 Mixing It with Mark Russell and Robert Sandall
23.30 Jazz Notes Alyn Shipton introduces the Humphrey Lyttelton Band, celebrating its golden jubliee
00.00 Composer of the Week: Robert Schumann, with Penny Gore
01.00 Through the Night with Donald Macleod

A dead composer sandwich ?
What's that nonsense at 21:40 doing there Dover ?

[french frank]

A dead composer sandwich ?
What's that nonsense at 21:40 doing there Dover ?

Well, I didn't think John Adams was dead in 1998, but he might not be the right kind of 'living' for you. And Mixing It would almost certainly have had contemporary stuff. That particular schedule may not have had much contemporary music, but other days might have had more. You might have had to go back 20 or 30 years to get more what would then have been contemporary works.

Opera in Action was a good programme because it was always presented by someone who was involved with opera. There was a week with Robert Lloyd that was very good - where I first heard Osmin's aria 'O, wie will ich triumphieren' and got to know Die Entführung as a result.

Found this review that gives more than a hint that Robert Lloyd wasn't just playing his favourite arias

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical-on-the-air-1073254.html

[MrGongGong]

Well, I didn't think John Adams was dead in 1998, but he might not be the right kind of 'living' for you. And Mixing It would almost certainly have had contemporary stuff. That particular schedule may not have had much contemporary music, but other days might have had more. You might have had to go back 20 or 30 years to get more what would then have been contemporary works.

Opera in Action was a good programme because it was always presented by someone who was involved with opera. There was a week with Robert Lloyd that was very good - where I first heard Osmin's aria 'O, wie will ich triumphieren' and got to know Die Entführung as a result.

Found this review that gives more than a hint that Robert Lloyd wasn't just playing his favourite arias

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...r-1073254.html

Dead composers sandwiched between living ones ....

[french frank]

Dead composers sandwiched between living ones ....

Oh, I see what you mean. Sort of. Who's the other one?

[LezLee]

I had to smile earlier today - I put 6 Music on this afternoon at the end of Cillian Murphy's programme and was amazed to hear Katya and Marielle Labeque playing 'Haven' by Bryce Dessner. This was followed by a rendering of Gorécki 3 middle bit sung by Beth Gibbons, lead singer of Portishead. I must admit it was not unpleasant.

[gurnemanz]

That 1998 schedule looks quite appealing but I've been around a long time and instinctively mistrust "things going downhill" arguments, so venture to offer a small counterblast. I'm slightly surprised how much talk the schedule contains. Maybe it was the right sort of talk. It appears that the programmes between 10.30 and 13.00 are all in the format talk + excerpts. No complete works there. In the Tamsin Little slot we had "movements from Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole and Bruch's Violin Concerto No 1 in G minor."

Gute Nacht.

[oddoneout]

No, not really, Oddy - occasional programmes of "highlights" lasting an hour or less have always been featured on R3. The rot set in when it was decided that this sort of programme (but without the "focus" of a specialist guest presenter's creating a "theme" or "focus" to the programme) should dominate the schedules for six hours a day, five days a week.

Sorry, I should probably have used an irony emoticon.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

[MrGongGong]

Oh, I see what you mean. Sort of. Who's the other one?

Mixing it

[The Lone Marmot]

May I thank you all for your welcoming and kind replies.

I was a little anxious to come back this morning and review the comments given my, ahem, frankly expressed views.


In any case, I do still find good listening on Radio 3, but I find it a shame that the station that introduced me and educated me into a world of serious music really does not seem to know its direction any more. It is becoming/has become some strange amalgam of other BBC music stations, a cross between Radio 2, Radio 6, BBC Asian with classical music becoming less and less important.

I find it a shame that now I dip into Radio 3 and for the rest of the time enjoy classical stations from around the world which do not interrupt music at every turn with the dreaded words "Roger has tweeted...", or "we've had an email from...".

Thank you, again.

[Richard Tarleton]

Perfectly expressed.

Welcome, Lone Marmot. It’s good to have a new voice confirming what many of us have been saying for years.

Indeed - plenty more like you here

[french frank]

I'm slightly surprised how much talk the schedule contains. Maybe it was the right sort of talk. It appears that the programmes between 10.30 and 13.00 are all in the format talk + excerpts.

I made that point in my introduction. For me as a 'replenisher' back then, starting from a low knowledge level, it was exactly what I wanted. Full-length works could be sought out in the concerts and recitals, as well as my own growing collection of LPs.

It was Hans Keller who pointed out the 'undesirability' of turning the station into one which simply 'played music' sequences non-stop, because he felt it devalued the listening experience. I agree with that, but the idea seems to have caught on with people who are happy to tune in and tune out according to what else they are doing.

Gongers' argument that people don't listen to radio if they want full-length works is simply a reflection that BBC radio does indeed 'go with the flow' - what the world in general does. But that doesn't alter my opinion that Radio 3 should offer more than that. That is the point of education - and the BBC hasn't helped Radio 3 by largely abandoning any attempt to educate about classical music on the mainstream. It subjects itself to the 'tyranny of the majority'. It offers an odd programme or a short 'season' now and again. I do think that the Ten Pieces project is a good one but it's a crumb rather than a loaf.

Meanwhile, Radio 3 diminishes, and is diminished. All in my view, of course

[LMcD]

May I thank you all for your welcoming and kind replies.

I was a little anxious to come back this morning and review the comments given my, ahem, frankly expressed views.


In any case, I do still find good listening on Radio 3, but I find it a shame that the station that introduced me and educated me into a world of serious music really does not seem to know its direction any more. It is becoming/has become some strange amalgam of other BBC music stations, a cross between Radio 2, Radio 6, BBC Asian with classical music becoming less and less important.

I find it a shame that now I dip into Radio 3 and for the rest of the time enjoy classical stations from around the world which do not interrupt music at every turn with the dreaded words "Roger has tweeted...", or "we've had an email from...".

Thank you, again.

Hi and welcome!
Perhaps Radio 3 should be renamed 'One Direction' - probably the wrong one. As you will have gathered, your views are widely shared!