In Praise of BBC Radio 3

Thank God, there is still one BBC network, where you can hear English spoken beautifully - the (mainly) Classical music and opera station BBC Radio 3. Of course, the wonderful music on Radio 3 is the main "thing", but it is an added bonus for listeners to get to hear properly spoken English between the musical offerings.   

Internet radio makes it possible to listen to this great station anywhere in the world. I have for years now had my internet radio wake me up to the musical morning programmes on BBC Radio 3. I can't think of a better way to begin my day!

BBC Radio 3 broadcasts all BBC Proms concerts live and in full. This imageis from
last years Last Night of the Proms, with mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato and
conductor Marin Alsop.

Another image from last year's Last Night of the Proms.

Hopefully they allow BBC 3 to stay as it is; a high quality station for those who enjoy good music - and good English!

A great performance to LISTEN to: The Salzburg "La Bohème"

If there would be an international award for best radio broadcast of an opera performance, the winner of the 2012 award would without doubt be the Salzburg Festival's „La Bohème“. What a pleasure it was to listen to the great voices of Anna Netrebko as Mimì and Piotr Bezcala as Rodolfo, when the German 3Sat broadcast the opera this week. Beczala particularly showed that he is one of the absolute top tenors in the world right now. (Beczala also excelled in the Semper Operetta Gala last week).

If you look at the pictures below, I think you will understand why the Salzburg „La Bohème“ is a performance to LISTEN to:

The second prize in the radio award competition also goes to Salzburg: The Salzburg Whitsun Festival's production of Georg Friedrich Händel´s opera "Giulio Cesare in Egitto"  (Julius Caesar in Egypt)  had all the winning qualities, except that the rocket artistic director Cecilia Bartoli rode on, was of a somewhat outdated type. 

Simple pleasures nr 2: Internet radio

I have always been a great fan of the radio as a medium. Listening to the human voice - or pleasant noises like music - is very relaxing. And you can do it with your eyes closed, lying on your favourite couch. And because radio programmes are not expensive to produce, many such special interest programmes are available, which are rarely found on television.

Through the internet you can receive literally thousands of radio stations from all over the world. I used to listen to some of them on my PC. It is, however, a rather uncomfortable way of listening. That is why I recently acquired an internet radio receiver. And I have not regretted this small investment.

Now I am able to wake up to the news (including information about "staus" on the Autobahns!) presented by my favourite German language news station, Radio B5 Aktuell from the Bayerischer Rundfunk in Munich. Or I can listen to my former favourite Washington DC local music station WETA. And the the Danish DR has an excellent 24 hour classical music service called Allegro, which is part of my daily listening. The possibilities are endlesss.

A great number of internet receivers are available. Here you can find more info on the one I own:
http://www.argonaudio.com/sound/i-net/argon_inet_1.htm