Australia Travel Journal

[ai4i]

This late post nearly four months since our last:
I just discovered that Kiwiland's Concert FM is now streaming live as well as offering the day's and week's programs in WMP format.

<small>[ 11-27-2005, 10:35 AM: Message edited by: ai4i ]</small>

[dai bread]

I'm getting slack in my old age. I should have told you all about this a week or two ago. Mind you, BR may not appreciate it, especially as it's ad-free!

[DavidS]

Thanks ai4i & dai bread - could either of you re-post the link to the NZ station, please?

[DavidS]

Hey! I just found the link to RNZ Concert FM - interesting schedule!
The announcer on at the moment sounds (to me) Canadian. Anyone know who he is?

[ai4i]

I hope annettehala is enjoying the new life we are breathing into her thread.

Originally posted by dai bread:
...I should have told you all about this...Mind you, BR may not appreciate it...

There are so many classical streams on the web, I think this board would attract more contributors were it to become a "clearing house" that discusses them all. From the few minutes I've listened to Concert FM thus far, I sense they are programmed with a different philosophy than BR: less orchestral and more eclectic, including some hardcore vocal material?

<small>[ 11-27-2005, 07:58 PM: Message edited by: ai4i ]</small>

[dai bread]

Much more eclectic. Vocal, instrumental, orchestral, interviews, narrated programs, in any combination. Old music, new music, and everything in between, including, believe it or not, rock & roll! (In a historical study, you see).

At the risk of upsetting BR, here is the link.

For instance, as an example of their eclecticness, they have a "what if" program. "What if" something trivial had or hadn't happened? Yesterday's program was on Verdi. What would have happened if he hadn't met his agent while going shopping, and gone to his office with him to read the libretto of "Nabucco"?

All it would have taken to upset operatic history, and deprive OT of some wonderful high Cs, was a loose shoelace. If GV had stopped to tie it up, he'd have missed his agent and never seen the libretto.

The program put forward an alternative history, with lots of excerpts from GV's music, and occupied an interesting hour.

[ai4i]

One thing annoys me about C-FM. Stations in the third millennium are not supposed to break format every hour to talk about stuff that has nothing to do with the music they play. This is what National Radio and the AM Network are for.
BTW...did you happen to notice RNZ's cutest pic, "Will and Meg listen to Concert FM"?

[dai bread]

Yes indeed! Reminds me of the T-shirt I brought back from Niue: a picture of a pair of feet similarly placed to RNZ's picture, captioned "Niue- hard work but someone had to do it".

[DavidS]

Originally posted by ai4i:
One thing annoys me about C-FM. Stations in the third millennium are not supposed to break format every hour to talk about stuff that has nothing to do with the music they play. This is what National Radio and the AM Network are for.

I take your point, but I think that is a matter for personal choice, depending on what you are doing at the moment, your mood, etc.
Sometimes you want to hear pure music continuously without interruption; at other times you don't mind it being interspersed with some "jaw-jaw" such as news updates, traffic reports, poetry recitals, drama, talks, discussions and information on cultural matters and activities, etc.
Many classical stations give these offerings - you pays your money and you takes your choice...

[ai4i]

Originally posted by DavidS:
...news updates, traffic reports...

These are breaking format.

Originally posted by DavidS:
...poetry recitals, drama, talks, discussions and information on cultural matters and activities...

These are within the station's format because they deal with the general purpose of the station.

<small>[ 12-02-2005, 06:33 PM: Message edited by: ai4i ]</small>

[ai4i]

Originally posted by dai bread:
...they have a "what if" program. "What if" something trivial had or hadn't happened?

I have heard some promos for this series. Sadly, it is not listed among the "on demand" feature programs. Please let us know if they do a "What if" program about The Spanish Mozart, living to a ripe old age and rivaling The Austrian Mozart. Of course, this would be more fiction than the typical "what if it did not happen" type conjectures, as we can not write music that was never written.

[dai bread]

The Verdi item I mentioned above had Verdi going into politics, not music. As I said, quite interesting. I wonder what interests Arriaga had besides music?

[ai4i]

Originally posted by dai bread:
The Verdi item I mentioned above had Verdi going into politics, not music. As I said, quite interesting. I wonder what interests Arriaga had besides music?

At nineteen, I would say girls!

[dai bread]

Hmmm... So he gets married, & settles down to raise a family. Unfortunately there's only limited sponsorship in Spain for composers, so he has to work and compose part-time (like Borodin, for instance).
That reduces his output, but not necessarily its quality. Hmmmm...

[ai4i]

Here! Minnesota Public Radio asks the queastion, "What if Mozart had not died at thirty five and had moved to America?"