This afternoon, WFMT played an excerpt from a memorial held for Jerry Hadley last week, including Thomas Hampson singing and saying some incredibly heartfelt and beautiful words about his colleague that had me choked up on my way to the supermarket. Well put, T-Hamps, well put.
P.S. Is there any city in America that can lay claim to a radio station like WFMT? That would rebroadcast an excerpt of a memorial service for a non superstar opera singer in the middle of drive time? That so treats its audience as intelligent people who really care about culture and not just another market segment at which to toss playlists? That continually finds innovative ways to demonstrate its investment in the culture of its host city? I can only really speak for WQXR's failure to hold a candle to it (David Dubal and Nimet's overnight show excluded...I cannot speak ill of that woman), and maybe there is dissent about WFMT out there or worthy contenders I don't know about. But seriously, it's a gem.
10 comments:
Ironically, WFMT is the sister to WTTW, Chicago's lame-o public television. Same overpaid management runs them both.
True that. Maybe TTW's suckiness is some kind of ugly stepsister syndrome.
The benign spirit of Studs Terkel at work at WFMT?
Well said, Alex!
WFMT is a class act all the way.
C.
*Sigh* KUSC here in Los Angeles is one big steaming pile of poo most of the time. Except for Jim Svejda's show in the evenings, where *gasp* music written past 1890 gets played and *GASP* non-tonal pieces sometimes get an airing, it's wall-to-wall musical wallpaper from Telemann and so on. Driving to work today, while I waited for my cassette of Schreker's Irrelohe to rewind, they were playing film scores.
*Sigh*
WCRB in Boston used to be an incredibly intelligent station. It's now elevator-classical, one movement of a Vivaldi Season here, one Dvorak Slavonic Dance repeated ten or twelve times a week, vocal music banned along with anything more harmonically challenging than Sibelius.
You're lucky to have FMT!
but nimit habachy has been off the air for about 9 months now.
whoa, really? for good? who does the overnight now?
I see, from Will's comment, that KUSC and WCRB have the same programming ethos.
Thanks for your comment regarding WFMT. If you'd be up for it, I'd love to record you reading your blog entry sometime. Please email me with your contact info!
david polk
wfmt
Post a Comment