Interesting comment on BBC from Steven Berkoff.

[Mary Chambers]

I"ve said this a thousand times, but if schools all did their bit people would know about these things, and not need to encounter them by accident on television.

[french frank]

A Telegraph piece by Ivan Hewett http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/m...cal-music.html

He muses:

"These days it’s rarely an encounter with classical music at home. Schools might have been responsible at one time, but now classical music is carefully presented there in a “non-judgemental” way, as just one way of making music amongst many. And it’s not the prestige or high profile of classical music in culture in general. The days when a conductor like Toscanini or John Barbirolli could be a cultural luminary for the entire population, accessible to anyone with a radio, are long gone."

[Stanley Stewart]

I've derived a great deal of pleasure from Proms 2013, to date, but the 'edited revisions' for TV transmission have fostered an uneasy harbinger in my mind by several random incidents in recent weeks so please bear with me if I stumble nor' by nor' west as I attempt to articulate my thoughts.

Much impressed by a young pianist, Jan Lisiecki, PROM 10 (19 July), his instant close rapport with Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome/Antonio Pappano. His encore, provided a spine -tingling moment, Chopin's
Nocturne 20, as his exquisite use of ppp tested the acoustics of the RAH, yet the R3 listener could sense that every note resonated in the hushed silence of the packed auditorium. You wait a long time for these moments. Cursed myself for not recording but had the consolation of a later TV repeat on BBC 4. Alas, not so as a BBC bureaucrat decided to schedule 'a revised repeat' which excluded this magical item. Several first performances have also disappeared but I read that some of these items will be linked in a forthcoming transmission of New Music later this month. I suspect that the ratings will tumble again as they did when Newsnight Review, BBC 2, was transferred on a monthly basis to BBC 4, at prime time. It all seems cack-handed and a glaringly obvious ploy to me but hope I'm wrong.

I've always been convinced that arts coverage, in recent years, has been under-sufferance at the Beeb remit and the harbinger I sense has been compounded by two external indicators I've noted in the past two weeks. (i) A TV item showing family group fragmentation in the living room as TV is displaced in a gathering whose attention fluctuates beteen the telly, the iPad or laptop. Some of these less substantial accessories also gradually creeping into the concert hall, I'm told. (ii) A new development which became rather sinister as I began to sense much wider implications, likely to be imitated and used elsewhere. Attracted by a Jan Lisiecki recital filmed at the Bristol Old Vic as part of a simultaneous cinema link-up and also scheduled for More4, TV, on Sat, 3 August. A 70 mins programme - well, 52 mins after using the pause button to exclude the commercial breaks - consisted of Chopin Etudes and Lisiecki attracted a young listening and appreciative audience. Here endeth the good news. Monochrome filming quite striking but, right from the start, the screen was also overlayed with laser strips, multiple split-screen shots of the pianist, even the grand piano lid was raised so that we could also see his reflection. But the LCD moment for me was an overlaid 'spider man' net image over his physique. A mix of sheer camp and downright vulgarity! Dismiss this as a passing phase, or was it a harbinger of things to come elsewhere? Has anyone noticed the tinkering in the BBC 4 Proms intros? An acceptable straight to camera commentary was replaced last Sunday in the Russian Prom (DSCH 11) with Tom Service presumably in a cute Russian interior setting? However, Jan Lisiecki did reward us, unexpectedly, with a repeat of his Chopin Nocturne from his RAH recital. And no intrusive graphic impositions. Lovely.

[Oldcrofter]

There's plenty of information here on tv programmes from the 1940s onwards and yes, there fairly frequent drama productions, recitals etc.

http://www.78rpm.co.uk/bbc.htm#1158

[teamsaint]

BBC1 broadcast a magnificent 49 hours of Arts and Music coverage in 2012. That is ALL art forms, including shows about film.

The minimum they require themselves to show is being reduced to 40. IN A YEAR !!!!!

That, IMO is an utterly damning indictment of the BBC, the government, and the expectations that they have for our people.

[french frank]

Three or four years ago BBC Three claimed to have broadcast 54 hours of 'arts and new music'. Someone I know went through 6 months of Radio Times to see what this was. There was a programme about modern dance, a few hours on Glastonbury &c and that was all he could find. He wrote in and asked what programmes were included in the 54 hours and when were they broadcast and was told the information was exempt under the Freedom of Information Act ('journalism, art and literature'). I don't think I'd have accepted that as an answer

[Oldcrofter]

For those in nostalgic mood, a tribute to Joseph Cooper and 'Face the Music':

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkK7SYHhaKU

[teamsaint]

Three or four years ago BBC Three claimed to have broadcast 54 hours of 'arts and new music'. Someone I know went through 6 months of Radio Times to see what this was. There was a programme about modern dance, a few hours on Glastonbury &c and that was all he could find. He wrote in and asked what programmes were included in the 54 hours and when were they broadcast and was told the information was exempt under the Freedom of Information Act ('journalism, art and literature'). I don't think I'd have accepted that as an answer

I imagine not.

and quite right.
So are you saying that they were telling porkies, or that they don't think it is in our interests to know?
or couldn't you possibly comment?!

[Flosshilde]

It's not my imagination - when BBC4 started I videod some wonderful opera, concerts and plays.

Where are they now in the same quantity, or is just the 'things were better then' syndrome ?

& when Channel 4 started they had saturday afternoon operas (usually from Verona, & probably available on video rather than being recorded by them, but still ...)

[french frank]

There's plenty of information here on tv programmes from the 1940s onwards and yes, there fairly frequent drama productions, recitals etc.

http://www.78rpm.co.uk/bbc.htm#1158

Rostropovich and Richter play Beethoven

[french frank]

So are you saying that they were telling porkies, or that they don't think it is in our interests to know?
or couldn't you possibly comment?!

No way of knowing whether the figure was accurate, but my feeling is that 'arts' would include drama such as Doctor Who and the Sarah Jane adventures.

The BBC takes the view that if you request information under the FOIA and it's exempt, they won't give it to you on principle.

[french frank]

What is the point of boringly harping on about Eastenders? I can't comment because I don't watch it, but many people seem to enjoy it.

But you were talking almost exclusively about music; he was talking about plays.