The sign of a civilised society?

[ardcarp]

To have a Mozart piano concerto discussed on a prime news network (Radio 4 'Today' this morning) may be a little unusual. But to have Rococo ornamentation and improvisation styles demonstrated is surely the sign of a civilised society?

[french frank]

I can't help thinking this is deliberate to allow Radio 3 to go on with its DJ sequence programmes while R4 takes up the intelligent stuff.

One reason why R4 is so hugely expensive is that it has so many different programmes, one-offs &c. Radio 3's 45-minute Saturday music feature (not many of this type of programme on R3 currently) had a guideline payment of £3,000-£5,000, or £4,000-£6,700 per hour. The programme that became Classical Collection had a guideline of £1,600, or £800 per hour.

I'd guess the plain fact is that R3 can't afford that type of programme (the Mozart) anymore.

[doversoul1]

So is it the case of the rich (R4) get richer and the poor (R3) get poorer? It doesn’t sound at all civilised to me.

[teamsaint]

like most government money, bbc cash is going into infrastructure, and to big companies rather than people.

EG Salford rather than R3 programmes.
hS2 rather than buses.
Bombs rather than soldiers.

[handsomefortune]

nhs care is a sign of a civilised society too

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/oct/08/lords-kill-off-nhs-reforms

[Ariosto]

Britain has never been a civilised society.

But it is definitely less civilised than it was.

[Norfolk Born]

To have a Mozart piano concerto discussed on a prime news network (Radio 4 'Today' this morning) may be a little unusual. But to have Rococo ornamentation and improvisation styles demonstrated is surely the sign of a civilised society?

Not that unusual - 'Today' often features items of this kind, usually (but not always) in the last 30 minutes of the programme.