“Nearly 15 years after our launch, the belief persists that Classic FM should become a mirror-image of BBC Radio 3. But there is already an excellent service funded by the licence fee, which aims to super-serve an audience of classical music connoisseurs. Classic FM creates programmes for everyone else – that great mass of classical music lovers who do not consider themselves to be part of the artistic elite. We have 5.8 million people tuning in each week: and 900,000 of Radio 3’s two million listeners also switch over to Classic FM at some time each week.”
Tag: 04.17.07
Ewww! Opera And The “Wet Burpers”
“It has long been obvious that exponents of bel canto have a tendency to obesity. But now, thanks to researchers at the Catholic University in Rome, we know they are also unusually prone to ‘wet burping’.”
Crossing Over Without The Chops
Joni Mitchell is the latest pop star to write classical music. “I guess that the trouble is – and I hope this doesn’t sound condescending, because I have huge admiration for their gifts – that Joni, Elvis, Damon and co haven’t troubled to develop a technique with which to negotiate these larger forms. They may listen enthusiastically to Bach, Wagner, Debussy and Stravinsky, but there’s something superficial and magpie-like about the way they pick up on them.”
Author Tries To Educate Prime Minister
“Best-selling Canadian author Yann Martel, worried about Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s apparent lack of interest in the arts, sent him a book on Monday and said he would continue doing so once a fortnight.”
Sound Quality? Who Needs That?
“Are these the final days of hi-fi sound? Judging by the 2 billion songs downloaded from Apple Inc.’s iTunes service, the ubiquity of white iPod ear buds, and the hundreds of thousands of folks file-sharing for free, the answer is yes.”
CD Sales In Freefall
CD sales fell 13 percent last year. “Though sales of music in digital formats such as downloads and mobile ringtones more than doubled in some cases during the year, digital sales did not grow fast enough to cover the revenue gap caused by the downturn in CD sales. Consequently overall music sales were down by 6.2 percent to $11.51 billion.”
Spamalot Is Tops On Tour
“The Touring Broadway Awards, established in 2001, were the first national awards to recognize such shows. According to the most recent study produced by the League, these productions sold more than 17 million tickets last season.”
His Story Dropped By BBC, Author Cries Censorship
“The author Hanif Kureishi accused the BBC of censorship last night, after it dropped a radio broadcast of his short story describing the work of a cameraman who films the executions of western captives in Iraq. Radio 4 cancelled a reading of Weddings and Beheadings, one of five nominations for the National Short Story prize due to be broadcast this week, after concluding the timing ‘would not be right’ following unconfirmed reports that kidnapped BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston had been killed by a jihadist group.”
Irreconcilable Differences Part Munich Phil From G.M.
“The Munich Philharmonic is set to replace general manager Wouter Hoekstra after his falling-out with the orchestra and its musical director, the city’s mayor said Tuesday. Mayor Christian Ude determined the relationship between Christian Thielemann and Hoekstra was ‘shattered’ after he was called in to help seek a solution, Ude’s office said in a statement. It didn’t elaborate on the nature of the dispute.”
Orange Prize Shortlist Announced
“Kiran Desai and Anne Tyler were among six finalists tapped for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, the U.K.’s annual literary award for women, whose winner will take home 30,000 pounds ($59,700) and a bronze statuette known as ‘the Bessie.’ “