tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919905982435630050.post6465167219693585361..comments2023-07-30T12:12:10.024-04:00Comments on Expressing the inexpressible...?: I don't understand Classical RadioMax Levinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11061804039453056782noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919905982435630050.post-33171177794871781582013-05-27T18:58:57.545-04:002013-05-27T18:58:57.545-04:00Max, Max...Don't waste your time with local ra...Max, Max...Don't waste your time with local radio stations. I am a devotee of Sirius/XM satellite radio and the choices are obvious; Three classical stations! One called Symphony Hall, another Classical Pop and the third Metropolitan Opera. There is enough there to keep my mind entertained which mood I am in. I don't work for them, by the way! It's about 12 dollars a month and you get nearly 100 other type stations to choose from. Enrique Sancheznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919905982435630050.post-76606454104094906332012-08-20T01:09:26.281-04:002012-08-20T01:09:26.281-04:00KVOD Denver disappeared from our listening area ab...KVOD Denver disappeared from our listening area about 3 years ago and is sorely missed. My beef is often stations don't play all the movements of a work. Some the Brahms piano quartets 30+ minute long. I'm thankful to have them on vinyl. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01016700559020767992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919905982435630050.post-19588863328768438662012-04-28T01:34:29.425-04:002012-04-28T01:34:29.425-04:00Oh, and one more thing - the station YOU (JAT) use...Oh, and one more thing - the station YOU (JAT) used to slave away at continues to have good, solid classical music programming (I think during the afternoon and maybe evening), even if many of those supposedly well-educated hosts sometimes seem to have trouble pronouncing "Mozart" properly.Max Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11061804039453056782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919905982435630050.post-70640596262157741342012-04-28T01:21:34.811-04:002012-04-28T01:21:34.811-04:00Mr T - So glad to get your input here. And glad t...Mr T - So glad to get your input here. And glad to hear QXR has the good sense to play that Bartok recording, haha. <br /><br />The "easy listening" issue is actually a separate one, I think. On paper, I expect that classical stations, desperate for listeners, will turn to whatever seems less "challenging" to their listeners. In general, I think familiarity is less challenging, so I would have thought playing a very short playlist of familiar pieces would do more to make it "easy listening." This is, I think, the approach of Top 40 format stations, and even of your typical "classic rock" station, which while saying "every day is a no-repeat day," they end up playing pretty much the same songs each day, just in a different order. <br /><br />So it surprises me that a radio station would go to a lot of trouble to program mediocre pieces that were best left in obscurity, when daily "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" is what I would assume would keep the "marginal" listeners tuned-in. But I must be wrong, because I am sure you are right that the programming decision IS somehow designed attract listeners in a world with too many entertainment choices. Elsewhere on this blog I have wondered whether mediocrity is somehow more conducive to fulfilling the function of background music for people's lives. In other words, maybe (and this is just a thought) Beethoven is just too interesting an engaging, whereas a person can read the newspaper without being distracted by a shlocky piece for flute and harp. <br /><br />By the way, as if to prove me wrong, the station I was writing about originally has included some great morning programming in the last couple of days, including Wagner's "Tannhauser" Overture.Max Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11061804039453056782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919905982435630050.post-83655021067028681002012-04-27T11:08:08.625-04:002012-04-27T11:08:08.625-04:00OK but to make a real point (obviously I was jokin...OK but to make a real point (obviously I was joking), how much of this is commercial in nature? Of those no-name composers you named, how much of that music fills the "easy listening" desires of some of the audience the radio station is trying to get to boost its numbers? (I am totally unfamiliar with those composers, so this is not a rhetorical question). I think commercial stations are really struggling, and even non-profit operations like WGBH need to attract enough listeners to justify their classical programming to their management.<br /><br />So what I wonder is, could it be they think this is actually increasing listenership, and doing it out of desperation between the more worthwhile works they are programming?Jason Tnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919905982435630050.post-37867208118759100892012-04-27T10:00:14.956-04:002012-04-27T10:00:14.956-04:00To your point, those crazy guys at WQXR in New Yor...To your point, those crazy guys at WQXR in New York are, right at this moment, playing a recording of Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances performed by some guy named Max something...Jason Tnoreply@blogger.com