Bill Bulger's oozing insincerity and the future of classical-music radio in Boston

By adamg on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 9:03am

John Carroll reports on last night's woefest at Old South Church about what WGBH is doing to classial music on air - which seemed to consist mainly of people complaining about crappy reception of WCRB.

Laurence Glavin files a report as well, notes "several rows" were set aside for the media, so expect a flood of stories about "Whither Classical?" over coming days.

Garrett Wollman was there as well, notes only one person asked why any of this matters in an age of iPods and wondering why people aren't so heated up about "the health of the cultural institutions that produce the music they value."

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Comments

this issue with WGBH and WCRB

By Ron Newman on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 9:38am.

Besides reception, one big issue is why WGBH cancelled live broadcasts of Friday Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts. Live broadcasts are one thing that an iPod can't replace. Also, supporters of folk and blues music are still very unhappy that WGBH cancelled those programs.

If WGBH wanted to air the

By necturus on Thu, 01/07/2010 - 6:28pm.

If WGBH wanted to air the concerts both Fridays and Saturdays, they could save the production costs by taping the Friday concerts and playing them back on Saturdays. However, it really doesn't make much sense to air a live concert on a weekday afternoon. Saturday evening is a much better time slot.

Every live performance is different

By Ron Newman on Thu, 01/07/2010 - 9:05pm.

even two successive days' performances of the same symphonic music by the same orchestra. As I understand it, some people like to listen to both shows and see how the orchestra 'learns' the music they are playing.

If WGBH/WCRB eliminated the Friday live show in favor of something else equally awesome in the time slot, I'd understand. But they killed it for no reason at all. There's no need to choose which live performance to air when they can run both.

Also, not everyone works 9-5, and some people who do can listen to music while they work.

Insincerity?

By anon on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 9:47am.

Bill Bulger has been called many things throughout the years, but insincere is not one of them. After reading Mr. Bulger's needling of Mr. Lydon, it is ever so clear that he was doing something peers do all the time- busting his balls. And he did it with sincerity. So though I can understand that Mr. Carroll sees journalistic capital in whacking Mr. Bulger, he comes off as just another clueless whiner. Is the Globe hiring yet?

Insincere is one of them

By anon on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 10:04am.

William Bulger has regularly been called insincere. Every time he says something like this:

“ I had the feeling that he was uh in the business of gaming and uh ... Whatever. It was vague to me but I didn't think, uh—for a long while he had some jobs but uh ultimately uh it was clear that he was not uh um being um uh you know he wasn't doing what I'd like him to do."

He is rightly called insincere.

BSO Friday Concert Broadcasts

By Laurence Glavin on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 2:05pm.

The elimination of the BSO Friday afternoon (an on occasion, Friday night) concerts was the ostensible purpose of this forum. Someone commented that the musicians of the Orchestra DONATE their services, so the costs to WGBH-FM would be for technical facilites used and an announcer, already on the payroll. John Voci opined that a repeat of a concert (usually the same program, with the subtle changes that live performances engender)was waste of a facility, failing to note all the duplication of WBUR programming now on WGBH-FM, or as in the case of Terry Gross's "Fresh Air", some that occurs RIGHT AFTER WBUR airs it).