The Choir 26.01.14

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Is The Choir turning into Essential Classics for Voices. I refer not to the content, so much as the inbred need for interconnectivity. We must have a Special Guest, today's being film composer, Debbie Wiseman. She sounds thoughtful and intelligent, whereas SMP sounds just a little patronising, but that goes with the territory.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Hmm. On what authority does SMP think it's OK to say "Jerontius"?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

This is REALLY BAD. Bleeding chunks from The Dream of Gerontius, naming a soloist who hasn't sung, following an excerpt. Then we are told we are going to hear the "best bit". Next SM-P will be offering to buy me an ice cream.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Oh, a contradiction. Now the choir has "an even better bit".

Time for a red card.

[DracoM]

As soon as I saw her 'Choral Classic' was DoG, I KNEW we were in for chunks, and seriously bleeding chunks at that.
Totally agree, EA. This is formulaic, exactly of the same order as Essential Whatevers from a.m., and just as itsy-bitsy brainless. They really are determined to patronise, dumb down, all predicated on what is clearly BBC rampant paranoia about the intelligence, elitism [sic], concentration span and interest of its audience in what is 'delivered'.

"Dilution and We Are Terrified" now runs through BBC like Brighton through rock.Ddepressing prospect for generations to come.

Discussion with Cook and Corp was poorly edited, and clearly had gone on for a LOT longer than we heard. It is exactly that kind of discussion between experts such as Corp and Cook about the place of choral socs, repertoire, finance, education in schools and lack of it and the impact that will have on choral socs and choirs - at the mo in good health, but give it ten years and.....etc etc that The Choir should be running LONG and inviting correspondence.

I am deeply, deeply disappointed. A genre I so love being served as poorly as this by a corporation with a fantastic record in doing it well, nay, a genre that more people in UK take part in on a regular basis than attend Premier League football.

Strewth.

[Miles Coverdale]

Hmm. On what authority does SMP think it's OK to say "Jerontius"?

Given that 'geriatric' is pronounced 'jerryatric' and 'gerontophil' is pronounced 'jerontophile' perhaps Gerontius should be pronounced 'Jerontius' – the Greek root is common to all those words.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The precedent is that Cardinal Newman, writer of the poem, pronounced it with a hard G.

[Old Grumpy]

Seems to depend which side of the pond you're on.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Not entirely. Jerrold (not Gerald) Northrop Moore is American, but uses a hard G.

[MrGongGong]

Hmm. On what authority does SMP think it's OK to say "Jerontius"?

You mean I missed it ?

The precedent is that Cardinal Newman, writer of the poem, pronounced it with a hard G.

Surely you, of all people, Alpie would stand up for correctness in pronunciation ?

[Alison]

The original point of this thread is the more pressing matter. Alpie is spot on.

[subcontrabass]

Is The Choir turning into Essential Classics for Voices?

It seems that this is the case. In week 1 of the new regime I sent in two emails pointing out egregious factual errors in the presentation. I sent these using a title and role that implied some specialist expert knowledge. These elicited grovelling apologies from the producer. A few days later I sent a longer email (from a different address) as an ordinary listener complaining about the steady decline in the standard of the programme since "The Choir" replaced "Choir Works". This has elicited no response yet.

[DracoM]

What gobsmacks me is that they have imported into The Choir almost all of the presentational features of Breakfast that have caused so much rage and disgust and led to switching off, and if stats are to be trusted, drops in numbers.

Do programme makers EVER read BBC feedback,or the fan sites to find you just how wrong-headed their formulae are?

Blood still dripping out of the DoG corpse. What next? bite-size Britten, Verdi and Berlioz?

Oh dear.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

One of the interesting points about this kind of presentation is that it does SM-P et al no favours at all. A musically competent presenter like herself appears as a simpering idiot (which clearly she is not).

[underthecountertenor]

This is REALLY BAD. Bleeding chunks from The Dream of Gerontius, naming a soloist who hasn't sung, following an excerpt. Then we are told we are going to hear the "best bit". Next SM-P will be offering to buy me an ice cream.

You dilute the force of your criticism with an obvious inaccuracy. The named soloist, Paul Groves, had sung at the beginning of the bleeding chunk in question - before the Kyrie.