Seriously good serious music on BBC Radio 3

While regular columnist Mike Ollier rightly bemoans the shortage of grown-up music on Brit TV and radio in recent weeks, he restricts his comments to the popular end of the spectrum.

By comparison, classical/serious/art music has rarely fared better. Recent radio highlights I’ve raved about include:

* Composer Of The Week – Puccini this week, Mozart two weeks ago, a Handel repeat next week. Intelligently written, expertly presented explorations of some of the greatest music for grown-ups, in week-long series of 5 x 1 hour programmes.

* Pavarotti’s career analysed in a five part series in Xmas week.

* Sonny Rollins interviewed and his work dissected in Jazz Library.

All on Radio 3 – the only BBC channel, apart from BBC Four TV, I’ll pay to receive once the anachronism of the hated annual viewing tax is finally denied to the robber barons of the bloated BBC.



Gerry Smith