Essential Classics - The Continuing Debate

[teamsaint]

anybody still interested in EC might find illumination in the website for the new production company, Somethin' else.

probably tells you all you (don't) need to know.


"content for the way the world works now"......apparently.

and
" Telling the stories of the worlds best brands".

although I wouldn't have thought that the best brands really needed their story telling, but there you go.

http://www.somethinelse.com/

They don't seem to have any Eddie Cochrane related talent or content.

actually on second thoughts, dont bother , this is a lot more fun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgQg4ze1_KU

[Nick Armstrong]

.....the stress of getting all the right programmes in all the right order had proved a little too much for the person(s) concerned and that they didn't necessarily know if the correct programme was being aired, even if they actually listened to the content itself!

[amateur51]

I don't know - I would have thought that it was RC (or whoever) himself, but bearig in mind Richard Coles' comments last night on QI, the presenters of Live radio shows have a Twitter screen in the studio so that they can monitor and comment on listeners' Tweets as they appear. The very rude ones (and, he said, they are legion: some listeners actually creating Twitter accounts with highly abusive names referring to the presenter!) are ignored. Perhaps RC (or whoever) spends so much time trying to find broadcastable Tweet content that he doesn't listen to the Music on the programme?

Also, on Feedback a couple of weeks or so ago, listeners wrote in to complain that scheduled late night programmes on R4 had twice been "replaced" by other programmes which had already been broadcast earlier in the day, even though the Continuity Announcer's comments before and after the programme declared that the advertised programme was about to be/had just been broadcast. Unless I seriously misunderstood the "explanation", the R4 spokesrobot suggested that, at that time of night, there was only a single worker in the studio pressing the buttons for relevant programmes and that, on these occasions, the stress of getting all the right programmes in all the right order had proved a little too much for the person(s) concerned and that they didn't necessarily know if the correct programme was being aired, even if they actually listened to the content itself!

Time was, London's bus commuters were attended by a driver and a conductor, one each per bus. Then came the drive for 'efficiency' and 'lower costs'. Out went the conductor, so the driver had to collect fares, monitor passenger numbers and misbehaviour, respond to tourists' questions, and deal with London traffic.

Attacks on drivers & passengers on buses grew so they installed expensive CCTV. To relieve the pressure on the driver, electronic fare gathering was instituted. Human beings being what they are, fare-dodging went through roof.

Move forward a decade or two and what do we have now? Boris buses with a driver, a conductor, electronic fare gathering, three entry/egress points. Most passengers a lot happier.

When will BBC Radio reach this stage?

[Bryn]

There again, drivers on TfL rates lost their paying in time, which caused some disention.

[french frank]

None of which comments above answers my original question: who (what?) monitors the live output in these situations?

During the daytime one would expect a producer to be monitoring it - and I have heard presenters altering their pronunciation in a back-announcement and had assumed a producer's word in their ear. Late at night 'self-opping' seems more acceptable with the playout system. The need to include listener feedback as it comes in must distract from what we would consider the more important part of the programme, even if the BBC doesn't.

"Getting all the right programmes in all the right order " does have a certain Morecambe-and-Wise aspect of genial bungling.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

All 11.00 a.m. on Remembrance Sunday and at 11.00 a.m. on 11/11, does Radio 3 observe 2 minutes of silence? I just can't imagine the presenters being able to hold their collective tongues for that length of time.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

To be fair, on Sunday Rob Cowan prefaced the silence with the Sarabande from BWV 1011 and followed it with Rinaldo Hahn's To Clovis with no speech from the beginning of the Bach to the end of the Hahn. There's enough dire presentation; we don't have to imagine it.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I was only asking. Thank you for the info, ferney.

[Nick Armstrong]

Bloody hell you'd have thought that with Minkowski as artist of the week, someone would have sat Mr Cowan down and taught him how to pronounce "Les Musiciens du Louvre" with something approaching accuracy - he has an apparently-musical ear, one would have hoped he could have done better than "Moo-sissy-onns"

Odd programme today, or at least the bit I heard - the 'overture' to La Belle Hélène was a couple of minutes of inconsequential music that was then faded out as the singing started (RC: "well, there you are..."); an odd bit of Sullivan (it occurred to me that he's the English Offenbach, or vice versa, mutatis mutandis ); and then the Gounod St Cecilia Mass ... not my cup of tea, but the odd thing was RC's intro - "among the best recordings of the work ever made" ... as if it were the B Minor Mass. How many recordings of the Gounod have there been, 4, 5? Maybe half a dozen. Not hard to be "among the best recordings ever made" of the wretched piece.

[Richard Tarleton]

Rob regards foreign words rather as a horse and rider might regard the jumps at the Horse of the Year Show - pause, gather yourself, go for it. "Les Musiciens du Louvre" would represent something on the puissance course, I should imagine. Four faults a fairly regular occurrence.

[Nick Armstrong]

Rob regards foreign words rather as a horse and rider might regard the jumps at the Horse of the Year Show - pause, gather yourself, go for it. "Les Musiciens du Louvre" would represent something on the puissance course, I should imagine. Four faults a fairly regular occurrence.

Perfect Richard! Takes me back to when my sister used to watch it on telly at home..."The Wall, now standing at 13 feet nine and three-quarters"... Well Cowan, riding "Essential Classics", ploughed right through.

[Nick Armstrong]

Rob regards foreign words rather as a horse and rider might regard the jumps at the Horse of the Year Show - pause, gather yourself, go for it. "Les Musiciens du Louvre" would represent something on the puissance course, I should imagine. Four faults a fairly regular occurrence.

Somewhat OT but springing from that - say what you like about James Jolly, in contrast he has an impeccable French accent...

[Classical Fan]

The problem with Rob Cowan is that he has a job for life and even his terrible pronunciations(did I hear Veeber for Weber the other day?)will continue without correction. Is his knowledge really that great, as there are many neglected and valuable recordings of unusual repertoire not yet touched upon. Unfortunately, the emails, tweets and texts will prevent me from listening to his programmes all the way through. Too much talk and too little music

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Welcome to the forum, Classical Fan. You've hit the nail on the head. There are many knowledgeable presenters whose expertise is subsumed by all this childish nonsense.

I often shout at the radio, saying something like "I'm not interested in knowing you first heard the work while you were having a bath before your first date, and the sun was shining and the poached salmon was delicious".

[french frank]

The problem with Rob Cowan is that he has a job for life and even his terrible pronunciations(did I hear Veeber for Weber the other day?)will continue without correction. Is his knowledge really that great, as there are many neglected and valuable recordings of unusual repertoire not yet touched upon. Unfortunately, the emails, tweets and texts will prevent me from listening to his programmes all the way through. Too much talk and too little music

'Morning, CF - and welcome to the forum!

Having a background in languages, what do I feel about poor pronunciation? Mm, I'm a bit more forgiving than some. I just feel that people who don't have much expertise in languages have to work a bit to to get 'correct' pronunciation, if not 'good' pronunciation. In other words, even if you don't sound like a native, get the stresses on the right syllable and have a reasonable knowledge of the difference in 'ch' &c. as pronounced in French, Spanish, German and Italian. Not helped by the fact that everything is done on keyboards these days and people who do know can't be bothered to include the diacritics: they DO matter in pronunciation.

As for tweets, texts and the rest: we live in hopes