Bernard Chasan wrote:

>...  WCRB, a commercial station in Boston pitches classical music as
>"relaxing".  The B stands for bland.  ...  I note too that WCRB sometimes
>has short announcements on BSO programs -not advertisements- more as public
>service.  Now suppose that the BSO is playing a program of Beethoven and
>Ned Rorem.  The notice will mention Beethoven only.  Some public service.

My understanding is that the BSO owns 5% of the stock of WCRB (Charles
River Broadcasting).  I only listen to this station because they broadcast
the BSO concerts live.  There is no substance in any of their commentary.
They merely name the piece of music they are playing and that is it.  There
is no difference in their format than a pop forty station.  Bland indeed.
Recently I was having my hair cut and I was astonished that my barber was
listening to classical music.  I complimented him on the music and he said
that he listens to this kind of music to "relax" My hope is this is not the
direction we are going in to attract new listeners.  Recently I had a
conversation with the BSO ticket manager who told me that BSO ticket sales
have never been better.  The BSO concerts are still a tough ticket in
Boston.  However, the audiences are progressively getting older.  A few
years ago I thought that could not be possible.  By coincidence I wandered
by the annual dinner held for top BSO contributors.  I am not exaggerating,
the average age must have been 95.

Bob Summers