A Listmember recently complained about a volunteer announcer on a
non-commercial FM station who mispronounced CPE Bach's name.  I would
prefer an occasional mispronounciation to the heavy-handed cuteness
cultivated by "professional" announcers on the typical commercial CM
station.  They may know how to pronounce Fibich, but their affectations
("we are having Vivaldi to dinner tonight") are nothing short of repulsive.

Frankly, I think the few non-commercial stations which still broadcast
serious music deserve our gratitude.  Most NPR stations have gone to
pure yak format.  And most commercial CM stations limit themselves to
easy-listening classical background music, from Vivaldi's "Seasons" to
Tchaikowsky ballet suites--occasionally enlivened (if that is the right
word) by OBSCURE easy-listening classical background music like Fibich.
Come to think of it, the cutesy announcing style is probably contrived
to wake up the listener in time to breathe in a commercial message.

Jon Gallant
Genetics Department
University of Washington