Choral Evensong: Wed, Nov 15th 2017

[mw963]

Well I’m from the era of the Third Programme when it started each day about 7pm I think. The Home Service carried most classical music. When the Schools’ morning service had finished about 9.30 there was usually a chamber or solo recital. The standard of the in-house orchestras was rough in the extreme and the announcers read what was in front of them like automatons. Give me Tom Service any day. The exceptions I remember were Antony Hopkins, Alec Robertson and Hans Keller. Come on you must admit standards are much higher now and BBC musicians can stand comparison with the best in the world.

Well then you're "earlier" than me. And indeed, for me part of the problem is that those nice "homely" music progs on Home/Radio 4 allowed Radio 3 to be a little more highbrow, and when Radio 4 decided to ditch them (which was a great pity for all concerned) Radio 3 had to accommodate them, which would have been fine if they hadn't then decided they needed to get listeners at any cost and at any denomination level.....

I would hardly describe Crowe, Ruthven, Scotland, Curle, Rigby, Berkeley and Hughes etc as automatons. Underneath a very slick and polished delivery there lurked - if one listened often enough - a strand of humour that was beyond price. Not to mention the beautiful readings of poetry when time allowed. I dunno, as a listener I felt warmly welcomed into the network, and yes it took a few months to "get to know them all", but once one did the unpatronising informed and informative delivery was beyond price.

Certainly all the music recordings I heard were pretty good, I can think of one regional orchestra which perhaps left a little to be desired, but what might be lacking in polish was made up for by the fact it wasn't a clinical commercial recording..... in other words, workaday musicians playing on the edge, which is worth a lot to me.

I could go on, but we're just not going to agree I suspect. And my loss of Radio 3 is clearly your gain. Fair enough, I have recordings, memories, German classical radio via satellite, and now Spotify.

And apologies to ardcarp, I was just interested to know a bit more about jonfan's "position" as it were.

[jonfan]

Way off topic agreed. Main thing is we’re all bothered about Radio 3

[mw963]

Absolutely!