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‘Revitalized’ Radio 2 thumbs its nose at us
By Miriam Mittermaier | October 3, 2008
Classical fans feeling a void
By: Gwenda Nemerofsky
Winnipeg Free Press
THERE’S been a rumbling sound within music circles the past few weeks, and it’s getting louder and grumpier every day. We miss our music — the classical music no longer being played on the “New Radio 2.”
Liken it to a morning without that first cup of coffee. But no caffeine fix could prevent that cranky, out-of-sorts start to the day we’ve been experiencing.
I am one of those discombobulated souls who can’t seem to adjust to the new “musicless” mornings. I’m just not myself lately.
Ever since high school, I’ve woken up to CBC Radio 2 (it was just called CBC-FM back then) and listened to music from the Renaissance to the 20th century, introduced by knowledgeable, friendly hosts. They offered educational and fascinating background about the composers and their times, and often pointed out special things to which we should listen. Not only was it a part of my day to which I looked forward, it was the perfect complement to my music studies, helping to make me a better musician.
Later in life, driving to and from work, and moving around the country, I loved the comfort of the familiar voices and ongoing adventures into different classical music that was available whether I lived in Montreal, Calgary or Winnipeg. CBC Radio 2 became synonymous with being Canadian and it was part of a patriotism that smouldered quietly inside me.
It has been a month since the New Radio 2 launched its altered menu of programming (they call it “revitalized”), relegating those of us still wanting and searching for classical fare to the inopportune workday hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
I tried it. I really did — thinking that perhaps the sociable Tom Allen could ease me into accepting something a little different on his new show, Radio 2 Morning. I tuned in several times over the first two weeks.
Sorry, Tom, but I just can’t hack it. Pop songs like Crowded House’s Pineapple Head and Bobbie Gentry’s country tune Ode to Billy Joe just don’t suit my morning mood — besides being genres of music I would never purposely choose.
And that Rich Terfry in the afternoons, whom the CBC says doesn’t indulge in “mindless chatter”? He philosophizes ad infinitum in a most aggravating and self-indulgent way. If I want inspiring outlooks on life, Radio 2 Drive would not be the source to which I would turn.
According to the show’s website, Terfry, a hip-hop artist called Buck 65 in his off-air life (what does that tell us?), wants to play music that will make us “want to tap the steering wheel in the car, tap your pencil at work, or even tap a wooden spoon on an old margarine container if you’re at home with your child. Wherever you are, we like to put you in a groove.”
Well, Buck, I won’t tell you what I really want to do with that wooden spoon. And I don’t groove.
The change in programming has been such a disappointment and has left a huge void in many lives, mine included. In fact, it has bordered on perilous. I only narrowly averted several collisions as I fiddled endlessly with my car radio dials trying to find something half-decent to listen to.
Classical music lovers and lifelong CBC Radio 2 listeners across Canada feel betrayed. Our decades of faithful listening are not valued or respected. CBC thinks we should just embrace their idea of what we should be exposed to — or at least put up with it.
They point to Tempo, the show with host Julie Nesrallah that plays during work hours, as the time slot for us, ignoring the fact that our availability during that time is often hampered by our need to work for a living.
Many are calling Tempo “classical music lite,” a show that pays mere lip service to aficionados longing for something we can sink our teeth into — works played in their entirety instead of a bunch of randomly selected songs. Nesrallah’s comments are unenlightened, not offering well-informed listeners any new insight.
These days, I am definitely feeling like Une Canadienne Errante.
How about you? Let me know.
gwenda [dot] nemerofsky [at] shaw [dot] ca
Topics: Press, Press about CBC |
2 Responses to “‘Revitalized’ Radio 2 thumbs its nose at us”
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October 3rd, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I feel that same sense of lostness in the mornings too. Lately, with all the news of the elections & the economy I have listened to the news on Radio 1 in the morning. But I long for a gentler way to wake up and make my breakfast. The classical program is hard to listen to as I find the Radio 2 ads and the breathy, giggly stuff hard to handle. Since I work at a computer in the office, I have taken to listening to NPR stations from Vermont and Minnesota on iTunes Radio, but all Canadian content, including the news & the weather reports are gone. I still find it unbelievable that the new brass of CBC Radio have trashed the excellent classical programming that this country once enjoyed for decades. When the elections are over, I will continue pressing the elected MP in my riding about reversing the loss of our musical heritage.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:35 pm
All the disappointed Radio 2 listeners must fight back! Write to Mr Lacroix, the Pres & CEO at CBC, as I have, also to your MP tell him or her to force the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage to review the financial affairs of the CBC.( we might have to wait until the new Parliament is sworn in ) They have spent over $2 million on advertising the new Radio 2 after dumping the CBC Radio Orchestra that cost about $600,000 a year. Write letters to Mr Stursberg and Mr Boyce at CBC telling them they have made a big mistake and start to make immediate adjustments to the format of Radio 2.
Don’t give up! One can also contact the CBC Audience Affairs by using “contact us” on the Radio 2 website.
Geoff Radnor, Ottawa