classic fm

[gilad]

hi all,

Just thought i'd post the link for classic fm south africa, it's a great station, probably similar to all of them around the world, with another flavour perhaps. you can listen to the station while on the site(top right corner).

hope you find it useful and enjoyable.

also, what do you think, hows the standard compared to classic fm in your region?

Gil.

https://www.classicfm.co.za/classic.jsp

[allthumbs]

Great site, thanks. Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 in C# minor was playing when I tuned in.

Cheers

allthumbs

PS - Does anyone have any sites that play strictly piano music?

[gilad]

hey allthumbs, glad you like it. i was listening in my car at that time.great station.

[Jacey1973]

Is it the same as the British classic fm??

Here is a very true description of the British Classic FM, i found via google:

"The radio station Classic FM has one main aim: to bombard its listeners with so-called easy listening music, with famous movements from the concert and opera repertoire, and with music promotion..."


I don't really like the British classic fm:

1) They usually cut off a symphony or concerto after one movement, or play a random variation on its own in the middle of a set of variations - so you don't really get a feel for the whole thing (like in Rach's Paganni variations for example).

2) You get at least 10 minutes of adverts every 2 pieces (or should i say movements?? Lol) it's sooo annoying, i often switch it on in the hope of hearing a nice bit of music for 5 mins when i'm washing up or something and don't get a single bar of music, just adverts.

3) Most, if not all the presenters are soo irritating presenting stupid programmes like "most wanted" - it's not "Top of the Pops" for God's sake!

4) (Ok this one applies to the Classic FM music TV station than the radio one:) They try to modernise classical music - in a bad way, i mean like promoting acts like "El Divo" (LOL - have you seen them??), "Bond", Myleene Klass etc etc - basically where looks are more important than actual talent and musical content (just doing rubbish "modernised" covers of beautiful, traditional classical pieces that were fantastic in the first place - Vannessa Mai's "upbeat" version of Vivaldi's 3rd mov't of "Summer" concerto from the 4 seasons comes to mind - basically she adds a drum beat and wears a low cut dress with a fan blowing her hair all over the place in the video). I can see what they are trying to do - make classical music glamourous and more appealing to youngsters, but it just doesn't work - i'm perfectly happy to watch performers playing live instead regardless of how they look, i'm more interested in how they play - what's the point in making a music video? It's all about how each performance is individual.

5) Because they need to make money/advertise themselves they (obviously) focus on the live concerts they are sponsoring - these often consist of the same old music time after time (the Bruch violin concerto no. 1 must ALWAYS feature....why can't they feature some other violin (or any other instrument) concerto that isn't so popular?) They have a "Classic FM live" concert coming up at the Royal Albert Hall - featuring the violinist Joshua Bell - and so they've been playing nothing but recordings by Joshua Bell - he's a pretty good violinist and i understand they are trying to get people interested in wanting to see him live at their concert but it wouldn't hurt to promote a few other violinists for a change whilst giving the audience a variety of interpretations.

6)They broadcast very little live music considering that they are involved with so much live music around the UK. And hearing live music is what makes classical music exciting isn't it?

7) They rarely try to educate their listeners about the music they are playing - there is no extra background information except for who composed the piece (movement) and who the performers are.

8 ) They play Ludovico Einaudi's music constantly - need i say more??!

I think the station is great for people not hugely interested in classical music - and i guess at least it gets some people interested in classical music who perhaps wouldn't otherwise go out and buy it; but if you want to discover classical music in more depth - academically and musically; and get the oppurtunity to listen to some lesser known works BBC radio 3 really is fantastic. - They play complete works(!), have live concerts everyday (of all genres - not exclusively "classical") and broadcast some really interesting lectures and debates, amongst many other things.

[gilad]

yes i'd say it is pretty similar to the british one,it doesnt irritate me though,not much advertsing, presenters are pleasant, and better than any other radio stations here. we're not exactly spoilt for choice unfortunately. i think there are about 10 radio stations at the most. i've also only tuned into classical music seriously in the past year or so, so a lot of what they play is novel to me and educational, still has a lot to offer i guess.
 i'm on bbc radio 3, thanks so much, very nice.

[abell88]

You would probably enjoy CBC Radio Two:

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/index.html#

[Nordlys]

...
I think the station is great for people not hugely interested in classical music - and i guess at least it gets some people interested in classical music who perhaps wouldn't otherwise go out and buy it; but if you want to discover classical music in more depth - academically and musically; and get the oppurtunity to listen to some lesser known works BBC radio 3 really is fantastic. - They play complete works(!), have live concerts everyday (of all genres - not exclusively "classical") and broadcast some really interesting lectures and debates, amongst many other things.

Aha. First I thought that classic fm was the same as the BBC radio 3. But the BBC channel seems really good.

I can also recommend the classic channel of NRK (the norwegian broadcast).

- They play whole works, not single movements
- They have no adverts
- Almost no talk, just music
- It is exclusively classical music
- They play a broad repertoire, not just the standards.

 https://www.nrk.no/
Go to "Nettradio", choose "nrk alltid klassisk".

Here you can see what they play at the moment:
https://www2.nrk.no/spillelister/alltidklassisk.splist

During the night they play by the way the 6 hour long night program, the same which is broadcast simultaneously throughout Europe, and also in the BBC channel 3.

[Jacey1973]

Aha. First I thought that classic fm was the same as the BBC radio 3. But the BBC channel seems really good.

I can also recommend the classic channel of NRK (the norwegian broadcast).

- They play whole works, not single movements
- They have no adverts
- Almost no talk, just music
- It is exclusively classical music
- They play a broad repertoire, not just the standards.

 https://www.nrk.no/
Go to "Nettradio", choose "nrk alltid klassisk".

Here you can see what they play at the moment:
https://www2.nrk.no/spillelister/alltidklassisk.splist

During the night they play by the way the 6 hour long night program, the same which is broadcast simultaneously throughout Europe, and also in the BBC channel 3.

Cheers - it sounds good, will check it out!

[Etude]

Is it the same as the British classic fm??

Here is a very true description of the British Classic FM, i found via google:

"The radio station Classic FM has one main aim: to bombard its listeners with so-called easy listening music, with famous movements from the concert and opera repertoire, and with music promotion..."


I don't really like the British classic fm:

1) They usually cut off a symphony or concerto after one movement, or play a random variation on its own in the middle of a set of variations - so you don't really get a feel for the whole thing (like in Rach's Paganni variations for example).

2) You get at least 10 minutes of adverts every 2 pieces (or should i say movements?? Lol) it's sooo annoying, i often switch it on in the hope of hearing a nice bit of music for 5 mins when i'm washing up or something and don't get a single bar of music, just adverts.

3) Most, if not all the presenters are soo irritating presenting stupid programmes like "most wanted" - it's not "Top of the Pops" for God's sake!

4) (Ok this one applies to the Classic FM music TV station than the radio one:) They try to modernise classical music - in a bad way, i mean like promoting acts like "El Divo" (LOL - have you seen them??), "Bond", Myleene Klass etc etc - basically where looks are more important than actual talent and musical content (just doing rubbish "modernised" covers of beautiful, traditional classical pieces that were fantastic in the first place - Vannessa Mai's "upbeat" version of Vivaldi's 3rd mov't of "Summer" concerto from the 4 seasons comes to mind - basically she adds a drum beat and wears a low cut dress with a fan blowing her hair all over the place in the video). I can see what they are trying to do - make classical music glamourous and more appealing to youngsters, but it just doesn't work - i'm perfectly happy to watch performers playing live instead regardless of how they look, i'm more interested in how they play - what's the point in making a music video? It's all about how each performance is individual.

5) Because they need to make money/advertise themselves they (obviously) focus on the live concerts they are sponsoring - these often consist of the same old music time after time (the Bruch violin concerto no. 1 must ALWAYS feature....why can't they feature some other violin (or any other instrument) concerto that isn't so popular?) They have a "Classic FM live" concert coming up at the Royal Albert Hall - featuring the violinist Joshua Bell - and so they've been playing nothing but recordings by Joshua Bell - he's a pretty good violinist and i understand they are trying to get people interested in wanting to see him live at their concert but it wouldn't hurt to promote a few other violinists for a change whilst giving the audience a variety of interpretations.

6)They broadcast very little live music considering that they are involved with so much live music around the UK. And hearing live music is what makes classical music exciting isn't it?

7) They rarely try to educate their listeners about the music they are playing - there is no extra background information except for who composed the piece (movement) and who the performers are.

8 ) They play Ludovico Einaudi's music constantly - need i say more??!

I think the station is great for people not hugely interested in classical music - and i guess at least it gets some people interested in classical music who perhaps wouldn't otherwise go out and buy it; but if you want to discover classical music in more depth - academically and musically; and get the oppurtunity to listen to some lesser known works BBC radio 3 really is fantastic. - They play complete works(!), have live concerts everyday (of all genres - not exclusively "classical") and broadcast some really interesting lectures and debates, amongst many other things.

Agreed.  I try to avoid listening to Classic FM whenever I can.  I just hate how everything is "Smooth  Classics".  That get's so annoying.  I'll only put it on if nothing good's on Radio 3.

7) They rarely try to educate their listeners about the music they are playing - there is no extra background information except for who composed the piece (movement) and who the performers are.

Sometimes they don't even give that!

They play Ludovico Einaudi's music constantly - need i say more??!

Why don't they just take one of his pieces and play that constantly?  You'd hardly know the difference. 

[Etude]

what?  They're playing two different movements of the same work (Brahms 1st Concerto) about 3 hours apart from each other!

[Jacey1973]

what?  They're playing two different movements of the same work (Brahms 1st Concerto) about 3 hours apart from each other!

Yes that sounds about right!