What concert?

[french frank]

I know I haven't listened to R3 for some, er, years, but I'm confused. Why are there no longer any evening concerts? A few tracks performed by the same orchestra/conductor (a peg to hang the concert label on) are interspersed between a selection of other tracks by different performers, some on commercial records. No different from FNIMN except in sticking to standard classical rep. Is that right?

[oddoneout]

There is a concert as you might recognise it, but filling the interval and the post concert spaces with more music/bits'n'pieces means that the playlist post concert is a mess.

[french frank]

There is a concert as you might recognise it, but filling the interval and the post concert spaces with more music/bits'n'pieces means that the playlist post concert is a mess.

I see. So the answer is to go away or switch off during the interval and after the second half piece. For me at least (perchance 'alone' ) the 'frame' of the concert is enough music for an evening. I remember now: the music during the interval has been recognised as a cost-cutting device. Cheaper to play two or three recorded tracks than produce an interval talk.

[LMcD]

In the case of last Monday's concert, I listened 'live' to the Elgar and caught up with the Weinberg on Sounds the following morning.
Evening concerts start at 7.30 p.m. Monday to Thursday and are followed by a 'filler' which takes the listener up to the Essay at 9.45 p.m. Last night's 'filler' was a Mendelssohn string quartet.

[Andrew Slater]

I remember now: the music during the interval has been recognised as a cost-cutting device. Cheaper to play two or three recorded tracks than produce an interval talk.

I seem to remember that The Essay was introduced to compensate for the loss of the interval back in those dark four years when the evening concerts began at 7pm and so couldn't be live* and the first and second halves were put together without a break and announced from the studio. When the live concerts were re-introduced, as you say, the intervals were filled with more music to save money. At that point The Essay could have been used as an interval talk (it might have needed extending to 19 or 20 minutes from its normal 15), but it wasn't. I suppose it wouldn't be convenient for people who only wanted to listen to The Essay, as its timing would be variable, and unpredictable during live concerts.

*When the R3 schedule was changed so that the evening concert began at 7pm, the BBC / R3 forced its in-house orchestras to begin all their concerts at 7pm, which, although it allowed R3 to broadcast some concerts live, led to a sharp fall-off in audience numbers because many people couldn't get to the venues in time. Of course that decision eventually had to be reversed, and I remember well the cheer and stamping of feet in the Bridgewater Hall when the restoration of 7.30pm concerts was announced from the platform!

[french frank]

Last night's 'filler' was a Mendelssohn string quartet.

Did they announce that in advance? If you didn't know you'd have to catch the recorded live recording on Sounds, wouldn't you? Unless you always listened to the entire programme without knowing what would be played.

[Andrew Slater]

Did they announce that in advance? If you didn't know you'd have to catch the recorded live recording on Sounds, wouldn't you? Unless you always listened to the entire programme without knowing what would be played.

No, the end fillers are never announced in advance, and for the interval the advance information just says:

c. 20:15
Interval

[french frank]

I seem to remember that The Essay was introduced to compensate for the loss of the interval back in those dark four years when the evening concerts began at 7pm and so couldn't be live* and the first and second halves were put together without a break and announced from the studio.

So how many concerts now are actually live (in the normal sense of the word)?

[Andrew Slater]

So how many concerts now are actually live (in the normal sense of the word)?

It seems to be fewer and fewer - one or two at the most per week. None this week. One last week. One the week before.

[oddoneout]

It seems to be fewer and fewer - one or two at the most per week. None this week. One last week. One the week before.

A trend that predates SJ's arrival? All I know for sure is that I have listened to very few for quite some time now, and I think only a couple in full in at least the last 6 months, as the choice of music just doesn't interest me for the most part. R3 is not the home of classical music when it comes to evening concerts.

[LMcD]

Did they announce that in advance? If you didn't know you'd have to catch the recorded live recording on Sounds, wouldn't you? Unless you always listened to the entire programme without knowing what would be played.

Most of these concerts end at around 9.15 p.m. and I sometimes tune in to discover what the 'filler' is.

[Serial_Apologist]

A trend that predates SJ's arrival? All I know for sure is that I have listened to very few for quite some time now, and I think only a couple in full in at least the last 6 months, as the choice of music just doesn't interest me for the most part. R3 is not the home of classical music when it comes to evening concerts.

I can't make much "thematic sense" of the music choices or their sequencing, which all seems pretty much pinning the tail on the donkey, blindfolded.

[oddoneout]

I can't make much "thematic sense" of the music choices or their sequencing, which all seems pretty much pinning the tail on the donkey, blindfolded.

Fillers or concerts - or both? The former is a forgone conclusion, but I'm interested if you feel that to be the case for the concerts themselves. As I say the content, thematic or otherwise, simply doesn't appeal to me, except on an occasional basis. I do check the listings each day, but more from force of habit than in expectation of a result. If a suitable concert does come up I can guarantee it is on a choir night, frustrating if it is the first such for weeks...

[french frank]

Most of these concerts end at around 9.15 p.m. and I sometimes tune in to discover what the 'filler' is.

Which is fine - but it's a different way of listening. In the past Radio 3 recorded, relatively, very low listening hours because listeners tended to be selective. You could check what was to be played, tune in for the music you wanted to hear, then switch off. That's now almost entirely impossible as Radio 3 has moved over to the 'normal' radio listening routine of switching on your usual station and hearing whatever is on. The predictable aspect will be the presenter. Hence listening by presenter rather than by music.

Even now with concert-going, people select which ones they want to attend and don't go to (or in the case of broadcasts don't bother to listen to) those they find less interesting.

[LMcD]

Which is fine - but it's a different way of listening. In the past Radio 3 recorded, relatively, very low listening hours because listeners tended to be selective. You could check what was to be played, tune in for the music you wanted to hear, then switch off. That's now almost entirely impossible as Radio 3 has moved over to the 'normal' radio listening routine of switching on your usual station and hearing whatever is on. The predictable aspect will be the presenter. Hence listening by presenter rather than by music.

Even now with concert-going, people select which ones they want to attend and don't go to (or in the case of broadcasts don't bother to listen to) those they find less interesting.

A different way of listening for a different world - one to which Radio 3 is finding it difficult to adapt?