Saturday morning success!

[Serial_Apologist]

....well we all know what Mr Gong Gong would have said to various parts of this thread....and I've just said it under my breath....

He wouldn't have liked Elsby's disparaging "post-Darmstadt" comment for one thing, and would have demanded to know which works were being misrepresented. Shame really - there was so much to agree with. Britten, whom he implies is within his taste purview, would once have been viewed as "avant-garde".

[french frank]

If it's not a silly question - might the improved figures for Breakfast and Essential Classics be attributable, at least in part, to the fact that they're both longer than they used to be?

Or in short,

That's the type of 'schedule change' which does have an at-a-(master) stroke effect.

[french frank]

He wouldn't have liked Elsby's disparaging "post-Darmstadt" comment for one thing, and would have demanded to know which works were being misrepresented. Shame really - there was so much to agree with. Britten, whom he implies is within his taste purview, would once have been viewed as "avant-garde".

Yes, there was a somewhat blinkered Spectatorish-Telegraphic element to the piece, I agree. It's so difficult to keep one's subjective views to oneself and when you 'get it wrong' that's what the critics immediately seize on to prove their own case, ignoring all the obvious truths.

[oddoneout]

Yes, there was a somewhat blinkered Spectatorish-Telegraphic element to the piece, I agree. It's so difficult to keep one's subjective views to oneself and when you 'get it wrong' that's what the critics immediately seize on to prove their own case, ignoring all the obvious truths.

They have turned the BBC into a bastion of liberalism which, effectively, operates as the media arm of the LGBTQ+ and BAME rights movements.

This in particular was something that should not have been included in my view, for just the reason you say. Any negative mention of those terms and what they stand for draws strong reactions that obliterate any consideration of what the actual subject of the writing might have been.

He should have stopped at this paragraph

Radio 3 is fast becoming a dumping ground

I think. Better to be thought a grumpy old man than an outright intolerant prejudiced one? The last 3 paragraphs don't in my view add anything worthwhile as they stand, although there are some points that, if phrased better, would support the article's theme of divergence from what was and should be R3's purpose.
A pity, as there are parts of the article that I think sum up very well the views and sadness that many of us feel.

[mopsus]

A little bird tells me that Drama on 3 on Sunday evenings is to be dropped in favour of an hour of brass bands and an hour of 20th Century Modernists from April.

I will miss Drama on 3 - although I haven't listened so much recently, that's because my routine has changed. When I tuned in a few weeks ago, it was doing Chekov's early play Ivanov and a glance at recent editions suggests that it hasn't been noticeably dumbed down from a few years ago. There may be repeats from earlier years, but Drama on 3 was broadcasting a significant number of repeats 15 and more years ago when I first started listening to it.

I look forward to the 20th Century Modernist hour if it appears, though it seems to me a way of corralling this repertoire into one set and limited time period, which then justifies ignoring it the rest of the week. A kind of Second Viennese School version of the 'God slot'.

[french frank]

This in particular was something that should not have been included in my view, for just the reason you say. Any negative mention of those terms and what they stand for draws strong reactions that obliterate any consideration of what the actual subject of the writing might have been.

It not only serves to invalidate the entire argument as presented ('such poor judgment!') but, worse: it serves to invalidate the arguments of all the critics who may partially agree and who can consequently be tarred with the same brush. Anyone who criticises Radio 3 is a narrow-minded, bigoted, jazz-hating, rude, classical music fanatic. And look! here's a "typical" quote from 'these people' ...

If only people could distinguish between irrefutable facts and their personal tastes, preferences and inclinations. And above all curb their enthusiasm for Trumpian rhetoric.

[Pulcinella]

It not only serves to invalidate the entire argument as presented ('such poor judgment!') but, worse: it serves to invalidate the arguments of all the critics who may partially agree and who can consequently be tarred with the same brush. Anyone who criticises Radio 3 is a narrow-minded, bigoted, jazz-hating, rude, classical music fanatic. And look! here's a "typical" quote from 'these people' ...

If only people could distinguish between irrefutable facts and their personal tastes, preferences and inclinations. And above all curb their enthusiasm for Trumpian rhetoric.

And if only those in control would not have a knee-jerk reaction to (and take umbrage at) every criticism as being unfounded.

[oddoneout]

I will miss Drama on 3 - although I haven't listened so much recently, that's because my routine has changed. When I tuned in a few weeks ago, it was doing Chekov's early play Ivanov and a glance at recent editions suggests that it hasn't been noticeably dumbed down from a few years ago.

I look forward to the 20th Century Modernist hour if it appears, though it seems to me a way of corralling this repertoire into one set and limited time period, which then justifies ignoring it the rest of the week. A kind of Second Viennese School version of the 'God slot'.

Well it "works" for early music...

[Ein Heldenleben]

Elsby was doing so well up until that sub Spectator point . The BBC is a “bastion of liberalism” in the wider non pejorative sense of the word - in that it is favour of democracy , free speech and balanced reasoned debate . It’s not an arm of the LG BTQ+ and BAME movements. However I have heard from normally reliable sources that senior editors are sometimes having to remind younger staff members of their duty not to let their personal opinions influence fheir pieces. I suspect because there are now so many extended internet feature pieces there’s much more opportunity to do so.
Radio 3 have also decided to adopt something of an “affirmative action “ attitude to composers that have suffered from discrimination in the past . There is a big debate (in fact much more so in the US than here ) about whether affirmative action is counter productive . That debate is being conducted by academics and community leaders within ethnic minority groups themselves not just sub Trumpian culture warriors.
Guess where I first heard a documentary about this (decades old ) debate ? -Yes folks on a Sunday night Radio Documentary on Radio 3 back in the seventies. I mentioned it in a conversation in the college bar about this issue. It was immediately picked up by an immensely distinguished Politics and Philosophy Don who asked me to develop the argument. Thanks to listening to the doc relatively attentively I was able to develop the argument (a bit)
Can you imagine that happening nowadays ? Not me developing an argument I mean but Radio 3 transmitting a documentary of that quality and one prepared to tackle these difficult issues.
Incidentally affirmative action has now met something of a legal challenge with Asian students winning cases against US academic institutions because their quotas are capped unrealistically low. Of course the BBC doesn’t have quotas does it?

[french frank]

And if only those in control would not have a knee-jerk reaction to (and take umbrage at) every criticism as being unfounded.

Sometimes one feels like the 'still small voice of calm' being drowned out by the shouters on both sides. I've composed several letters to Sam Jackson in the last few days but they don't get sent because I can predict what the reply will be and what will be ignored.

I listened to the Feedback interview multiple times and where was there a mention by interviewer or controller about dropping most of the lunchtime concerts, moving Record Review to the afternoon graveyard, that 'resembling Classic FM' was not about the composers being broadcast but about the insubstantial snippets largely contained in the swathes of presenter-led blocks of 3+ hours, of 'classical music presenters' who know less about the subject than their audience, of the neglect of the long-standing classical audience in favour of younger, less-informed, more casual listeners?

Just don't use the phrase 'dumbing-down' because Sam Jackson considers it a meaningless insult.

[LMcD]

Just don't use the phrase 'dumbing-down' because Sam Jackson considers it a meaningless insult.

OK - how about 'refreshing/reimagining/reinventing' then?

[Bella Kemp]

I know that I may be in a minority in this forum, but I do greatly enjoy the new Saturday schedule.

[Pulcinella]

I know that I may be in a minority in this forum, but I do greatly enjoy the new Saturday schedule.

I think that we're all a minority on this Forum!

[oddoneout]

OK - how about 'refreshing/reimagining/reinventing' then?

'Changing' works quite well - neutral until put into context.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I know that I may be in a minority in this forum, but I do greatly enjoy the new Saturday schedule.

In some ways it’s better in that one irritating programme where music is constantly voiced over has been shunted back into the late afternoon black hole before Opera on 3 - compulsory listening in this household. There are also fewer opportunities for the unchallenging groupthink that was regularly trotted out on Music Matters on the new Saturday Morning. But running Record Review up against the Rugby on DiscoveryPlus is unforgivable.

I realise I am in a minority…

oh god help us they are now running a self congratulatory puff audience trail with Petroc and Katie - have they no shame ?