Private Passions

[Ein Heldenleben]

I think our tastes/expectations are just very different. Theoretically I found nothing wrong with the format but in the days when I listened it didn't seem to delve much deeper than A Musician's Favourite Music And A Few Words On Why They Liked It Or Why It Interested Them (but up to 16 pieces discussed in 2 hours?). At least when I listened there were a lot fewer pieces, usually 8). The format seemed to resemble the 'younger version' two-hander This Classical Life. And differed from Private Passions only in being limited to musicians as guests.

It’s a very variable series isn’t it ? The guests often seem to be semi improvising their scripts which makes for a difficult listen. Others don’t have particularly attractive voices or well modulated delivery. There’s a real tendency amongst people to speak in a strange monotone tone with a bit of upspeak at the end. Tennis players are terrible for this.

[french frank]

A new programme format I do like is Inside Music. Looking forward to Anna Prohaska on 17 June.

I think our tastes/expectations are just very different. Theoretically I found nothing wrong with the format but in the days when I listened it didn't seem to delve much deeper than A Musician's Favourite Music And A Few Words On Why They Liked It Or Why It Interested Them (but up to 16 pieces discussed in 2 hours?). At least when I listened there were a lot fewer pieces, usually 8). The format seemed to resemble the 'younger version' two-hander This Classical Life. And differed from Private Passions only in being limited to musicians as guests.

[eighthobstruction]

A new programme format I do like is Inside Music. Looking forward to Anna Prohaska on 17 June.

....yes it is a good format....unfortunately the age of the participants (young to early middle age) means that they are discovering what I have heard before -nearly always good solid stuff but mostly not new to me ....there are however many exceptions to that mode....it is a programme I enjoy and wish there were more programmes like it....

[gurnemanz]

A new programme format I do like is Inside Music. Looking forward to Anna Prohaska on 17 June.

[french frank]

Oh, yes, I wasn't thinking of quite that long ago, probably since the mid to late 1990s. The schools programme was removed but I can't remember if that went from the World Service or when Through the Night began. I wasn't listening in the 70s.

Two improvements have already been mentioned - the removal of Test Match Special and Study On 3. I would also add round the clock broadcasting , FM (if we’re talking decades) , digital broadcasting esp 320 kbps sound, On an editorial note I would say In Tune is a vastly better produced programme than the drive time music sequences I worked on forty years ago. The “everything is worse “ mantra whilst it may be comforting doesn’t stand up to critical examination. There were plenty of duff programmes in the 70’s but people just forget their existence.

[Ein Heldenleben]

It's hard to think of any changes at R3 in recent decades have been improvements (unless the previous 'improvement' was such a disaster that it was quickly changed again).

Two improvements have already been mentioned - the removal of Test Match Special and Study On 3. I would also add round the clock broadcasting , FM (if we’re talking decades) , digital broadcasting esp 320 kbps sound, On an editorial note I would say In Tune is a vastly better produced programme than the drive time music sequences I worked on forty years ago. The “everything is worse “ mantra whilst it may be comforting doesn’t stand up to critical examination. There were plenty of duff programmes in the 70’s but people just forget their existence.

[french frank]

I'd rather not rock the Private Passions boat. It's one of the more civilised R3 offerings.
"Always keep a-hold of Nurse, for fear of finding something worse" comes to mind.

It's hard to think of any changes at R3 in recent decades have been improvements (unless the previous 'improvement' was such a disaster that it was quickly changed again).

[french frank]

I'd rather not rock the Private Passions boat. It's one of the more civilised R3 offerings.
"Always keep a-hold of Nurse, for fear of finding something worse" comes to mind.

It's hard to think of any changes at R3 in recent decades which have been improvements (unless the previous 'improvement' was such a disaster that it was quickly changed again e.g. Morning Collection with Paul Gambaccini).

[ardcarp]

I'd rather not rock the Private Passions boat. It's one of the more civilised R3 offerings.
"Always keep a-hold of Nurse, for fear of finding something worse" comes to mind.

[french frank]

I wonder if Private Passions have just run out of even moderately well known people who are interested in classical music. I know (or have worked with ) two people who’ve been on it . Neither are remotely famous - they did have books to sell though. And that leads me to my other problem with the show - do they just have to take who’s offered by PR people agents or publishers? That’s pretty much the case with TV chat shows.

Just been checking - it's been on now for 28 years, and with the same presenter (75 yesterday, Happy Birthday Michael! ). A sad reflection that one dare not push for an excellent presenter of 75 to retire for fear of what comes in as a replacement. I wonder what sort of change to the programme/slot would be an improvement?

[Ein Heldenleben]

I wonder if Private Passions have just run out of even moderately well known people who are interested in classical music. I know (or have worked with ) two people who’ve been on it . Neither are remotely famous - they did have books to sell though. And that leads me to my other problem with the show - do they just have to take who’s offered by PR people agents or publishers? That’s pretty much the case with TV chat shows.

[smittims]

While it is true that Radio 3 still plays a vast number of pieces it played fifty years ago, it has dropped a lot of pieces it did play then, and replaced the, with many pieces it didn't pay then. Fifty years ago we heard more Rawsthorne, Brian , Stockhausen and Lutyens, and hardly any Gershwin, Piazzola, and pop.

[french frank]

The actual music Radio Three provides is much the same as 50 years ago

I wasn't listening 50 years ago, but if it had been 'much the same as now' that wouldn't have been any more appealing to me than R3 is now. It wasn't like that when I first started listening in the '80s and '90s. What I don't like is what I believe is the common format referred to as "CD sequences" which consist of a sequence of, on average, c 6mins tracks and then - 'now for something completely different'.

Private Passions has to be somewhat like that by its very nature - the choice of 8 discs (one recent guest apprently had 16 pieces: really?), but back when I did listen there would be well-known people (comedian John Bird or Frances Patridge of the Bloomsbury Group) who were both culturally interesting interviewees and knowledgeable classical music lovers.

It appears, from looking at recent PPs playlists, that people who do (still) enjoy the programme are more interested in the interviews/people than in the music played - which is fine: but that emphasis makes the programme less interesting for people who hope to make unexpected classical discoveries rather than hearing one movement of the 'Moonlight Sonata' or The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba in between non-classical pieces.

[kernelbogey]

What I have found illuminating and enjoyable about Private Passions, to get back on thread, and occasionally truly inspiring episodes (which I have frequently highlighted on this thread) is a sensitive and informed discussion between Michael and his guest of the way in which music has been important to that guest. This isn't usually much, or anything, to do with their knowledge of and about 'classical' music but the ability to express in words how that connection works for them. Again, this is nothing or rarely to do with knowledge of the composer, composition, musical theory and history - all cognitive aspects of connection with music - but the emotional connection for them with particular pieces: how they fitted into their life, what connections they make with important events or personal experience. The best of these programmes have been superlative broadcasting.

[gurnemanz]

The actual music Radio Three provides is much the same as 50 years ago - in better sound and with the benefit of Listen Again. There is far more of it on a daily basis and there are no interruptions such as Study on Three or cricket commentary. There is still nowhere else to go for eg a live song recital.

The main thing which doesn't appeal to me about Radio 3 nowadays is the morning schedule, especially on Sunday when today we were offered: "Sarah Walker with a glorious musical mix. Sarah Walker chooses three hours of attractive and uplifting music to complement your morning". I opted out as usual and have just looked up a random a Sunday in 1970 to confirm my memory: Bach Cantatas at 9. OK, they already did follow this with a populist concession by way of a phone-in request programme called Your Concert Choice, but this was followed by the ever-enlightening Music Magazine with Anna Instone and Julian Herbage, which I always listened to. To this day I frequently choose to start my Sunday with a Bach Cantata rather than R 3's random mix.