The snoozefest and more at WRR

WRR, Dallas' classical radio station, has continued to go further and further downhill over the years. That's not just my opinion, it's that of former Dallas Morning News classical critic Scott Cantrell, who was let go, but retained on a freelancer basis, about half a dozen years ago, and due to the coronavirus, is surely not working at this time, and for further cost-cutting, may never be called back.

It's not just the mispronunciations by announcers, though there are still some of those.

It's the particular choices.

I heard recently an Egmont overture by some conductor that was so somnolent Baron Egmont would have died of boredom rather than Spanish execution had he heard it. (I got home before it was done, the conductor wasn't announced in advance, and I didn't stick around to hear who it was. Radio went off with car ignition.)

A day before that I heard Gustavo Dudamel's conducting of at least the funeral march from Eroica. Bland as well as slow. Beyond getting tempo and nuances wrong, the more and more I hear of him, the more and more I dislike him. More on that later.

Fifteen years ago, I remember hearing an absolute snoozer of the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth on WRR. It was such a train wreck I felt compelled to listen through and find out who.

Turns out it was Lenny's from Berlin after the Wall fell. I'd never heard it before, and never will again. But WRR loved it.

This happened again today, after this post went up! They were playing Shosty's Jazz Suite No. 1. I was driving for work and in and out of my vehicle, so I didn't hear the end as to who was conducting. But? Too slow. And, not that rhythmic. (That said, one could insert a joke about rhythm, jazz and the Soviet Union in here somewhere.)

At least they do occasionally let the 20th century in, besides the warhorses. I actually heard Schnittke on there a while back.