Rob's thoughts on the Specialist Classical Chart

Hello Rob,



I see nothing wrong with knowing what the music loving fraternity goes for. The only things that concern me are the use of the word 'chart' and the second is that I cannot stand anything that Monsieur Andre Rieu does indeed I find all his sounds quite dreadful even moreso than Mantovani from a former era.



John J. Davis, South Devon. UK.

I'd rather be hearing recording gems picked out because they have something interesting to say musically; are representative of exceptional musicians; or rarely played pieces/composers that simply deserve a chance to be enjoyed and appreciated by a wider audience.



Yes, I know this still happens most of the time on Breakfast and many other programmes, but I fear that resorting to promoting recordings in the "Specialist Classical Chart" is merely pandering to the currently most effective recording company/online store marketing and advertising campaign.



Looking at the merchandise on offer, I wonder precisely WHO this chart is aimed at? I don't know a single violinist - professional, semi-pro or amateur - who'd buy (let alone listen to) an Andre Rieu recording even under threat of having their violin put through a wood chipper. It certainly doesn't strike me as a chart geared towards BBC Radio 3 listeners, though perhaps over at the OTHER place...?



In this sophorific season of opinion polls - perhaps Breakfast could invite R3 listeners to an online vote on which, if any, of the Specialist Classical Chart recordings they've bought or will definitely buy?



Additionally, in my opinion, snippets of longer works are fine at Breakfast over porridge and toasted bagels as long as they are "snipped" in an sensitive and artistically pleasing way...

maestrolover has made a good suggestion, and I would like to kick off by repeating a comment made on a messageboard topic about the Classical Chart.



I bought the Stephen Hough Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto CDs and was mightily disappointed, not only by the helter-skelter tempi he adopted which diminished the dramatic tension of the climaxes, but the overall sound quality which I thought fell short of Hyperion's usual standard. I made my purchase partly after reading a glowing recommendation on one of the Telegraph blogs, and partly because I already had the Hough Saint Saens PCs on the same label and really enjoy them. Had I first heard an excerpt from the Tchaikovsky set on Breakfast I might have saved myself some money.



I think the best of the complete Tchaikovsky piano concertos currently available is Elizabeth Leonskaja's 2-CD set with the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Mazur on Warner Apex, at around a third of the cost of the Hough Hyperion set. Leonskaja is a sympathetic interpreter with a formidable technique, and if the PC1 warhorse is somewhat understated most classical music lovers will already have this work in their collections.



The main objection to the Classical Chart appears to be that it will somehow influence the choice of works aired throughout R3's entire programming schedule, but at this early stage there appears little evidence of what would be a retrograde step.