There was a time when I listened every day to CD Masters enjoying the expertise of RC and JS and hearing NEW things. Then it became Classical Collection and gradually over the years I became less enamoured of it, beginning to hear much that is very familiar. Over the last 6 months I have listened to it less and less but am I alone in seeing it now as a straight extension of the material that is played on Breakfast? I have caught so many familiar items in the last two weeks - the kind of thing that gets flogged to death on the earlier programme - that I had to look at the watch to verify it was indeed after 10 a.m.
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I agree. There are more shorter works and more popular works, fewer rarely heard pieces or genuinely interesting historical performances. I rarely listen now, whereas I used to listen quite a lot to CD Masters. For instance this week, Tchaikovsky Rococo variations (again), Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Polovtsian Dances, Quartettsatz, Bolero. I can't really see the point of it at all. -
Bolero?
What a shame I missed it.
Not.
In fact every time I have caught the programme in the last two weeks I have only ever heard the most frequently played items and assumed that this is a determined attempt to get to the CFM market.
I can't see any other reason - or point, as you correctly say.O Wort, du Wort, das mir Fehlt!Comment
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How soon will it be before the programme is continued into the afternoon?
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This morning, in Breakfast there were 27 music items, plus news summaries, promos, etc, in 3 hours. In Classical Collection, the 2 hours contained but 6 items of music, and no news summaries. The really is no real comparison. The one similarity is that they each comprise mainly commercial recordings. Classical Collection remains but a poor substitute for CD Masters, however.Comment
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CC was one of the few programmes whose audience figure was disclosed in the recent review (in order to confirm its popularity): 616,000 on average per week, meaning the total listeners over the five programmes, not that number per day. The only figure I have for CD Masters (Q3, 2004 - not a particularly good quarter) is 594,000 per week, pretty good for a programme that was axed because it was considered too elitist to be 'welcoming and accessible' for new listeners ...Originally posted by Bryn View PostIt isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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Bryn:
Surely CC just consists of the same music as Breakfast - but full length pieces instead of snippets. Breakfast is for those people in a rush and can't hang around to hear the whole piece and CC is for the slugabeds and stayathomes and now transformed into what you heard on Breakfast - but just longer.
Heard S M-P this morning announce Holst's "Venus" as "one that doesn't get played as much as Mars, Jupiter and Mercury on Breakfast." Well, one might argue, whose fault is that?O Wort, du Wort, das mir Fehlt!Comment
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I only listened to part of this morning's CC but these days there are quite a number of extra items broadcast that are not in the published playlist, so taking the number of pieces from the schedule is going to understate the number of works played.Originally posted by Bryn View Post
I agree with the majority view (expressed so far) that CC is a pretty bland programme and, although it isn't the same as Breakfast, it seems to continue the easy listening approach ("music to iron by" as I once said) . As far as I am concerned it is a waste of two hours that could be devoted to exploring the rich wealth of recorded music with knowledgeable and interesting contributions from the presenters. (That reminds me of something ... )Comment
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B-o-D, you haven't missed it. It's on the programme this Friday.Originally posted by Bax-of-Delights View Post
Bolero?
What a shame I missed it. Not.Comment
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I am afraid that for really interesting music outside the CFM repertoire CC is not my progamme anymore (lost interest some 3 years ago);
Ao3 is heading the same direction (with exception of some "series", like last week's BBC Concert Orchestra's British forgotten repertoire recordings);
and most of the time Po3 in the evening is not much better in terms of played repertoire (some nice exceptions confirming that rule, like last night's Glanert piece e.g. or tomorrow's Ades).
For me the only really interesting programmes left (that is most of the time, not always, and of course outside the Proms season) are Hear and Now, CotW, Early Music Show and Through the Night; sporadically others.Comment
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Interesting stats FF.
So, if I am extrapolating your figures correctly and that the numbers quoted are per week, we see that CC has added the stunning total of 733 extra listeners per week YEAR ON YEAR out of a UK population of er...61 million (bearing in mind that between 2004 and 2010 the UK population grew by 2 million). So, basically the listening figures are at standstill.O Wort, du Wort, das mir Fehlt!Comment
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Oooh. Thanks. What a pity I shall be in the queue at the local post office (I'll make sure I am).Originally posted by aeolium View PostO Wort, du Wort, das mir Fehlt!Comment
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Erm ...Originally posted by Bax-of-Delights View Post
I'm not sure about that, B-o-D. The thing is, it's not clear whether 616K is one particular quarter's weekly average, or perhaps a twelvemonth's weekly average (which twelve months?) or what. It's like RW announcing that the evening concert figures are 'up by 10%'. So that is 10% more than what, exactly? Choose the right two figures to compare and you can come up with some impressive increases.
As far as the CC v CDM figures are concerned, and bearing in mind the level of fluctuation, the difference between 616K and 594K is pretty well negligible.It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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