Lyric fm's Breakfast show presenter - Marty Whelan.

jmcc

Expunge wrote: »

Except it seems our Taoiseach never said it. Apparently, he made no reference to Lyric or Marty Whelan.
It was in his published speech alright, which he apparently made a complete hash of when he went to read it in front of 1300 radio professionals from around the world. It was reported by some of the mortified Irish people there that he made reference to 'Deserted Island Discs' instead and not 'Desert Island Discs' - one of the most famous radio shows in the world.
This was in front of Helen Bowden, head of BBC Radio.
The 'speech' was apparently met by stunned silence, head scratching and finally polite applause.
Kenny and Whelan are well suited to each other. Both on a wing and a prayer with no class!

Good catch.
This is the exact quote from the published speech: "Yet… in the worst of the economic downturn time and again we heard even news addicts say ’I couldn’t take any more of the bad news about banks and bailouts I switched to Lyric FM in the car in the mornings Marty Whelan makes me feel so much better.’" Note that it is not him saying that he listens to Mediocrity In The Morning but rather "news addicts".

This is not the first time that one of the vast multitude of pro-Marty promoters has been caught out. Remember Yvonne trying to spin a rather cutting Sunday Times Culture section article as being a glowing endorsement for Whelan when it was quite the opposite?

Regards...jmcc

Expunge

jmcc wrote: »

They'd use a pack of rashers if it got them coverage on RTE as the face of their festival. It is all just marketing.

That's a good point about the Wexford Festival. As fine as it is, it's no secret that they are struggling badly to keep it afloat in it's present form. Since BBC Radio 3 said goodbye to covering the festival, they've been floundering a bit. Now they need common people to stump up 120 Euro a ticket and they'll try ANYTHING, while holding their noses of course.

jmcc

SaveOurLyric wrote: »

Back to the music though, listen out for a treat coming up, with the lovely Hayley Westenra to visit MITM before her outing in the NCH this weekend. She's quite a fan of the show as well !

More marketing and did she even say that she is a fan or is this another of your "claims" about that dire show? Anyway most artists do promote events by appearing on radio and TV. Whelan's show is probably just on the list of shows.

Regards...jmcc

Yvonne23R

Expunge wrote: »

SaveOurLyric wrote: »

How many programmes prompt people to nudge our Taoiseach describing how it improves their morning?

Except it seems our Taoiseach never said it. Apparently, he made no reference to Lyric or Marty Whelan.
It was in his published speech alright, which he apparently made a complete hash of when he went to read it in front of 1300 radio professionals from around the world. It was reported by some of the mortified Irish people there that he made reference to 'Deserted Island Discs' instead and not 'Desert Island Discs' - one of the most famous radio shows in the world.
This was in front of Helen Bowden, head of BBC Radio.
The 'speech' was apparently met by stunned silence, head scratching and finally polite applause.
Kenny and Whelan are well suited to each other. Both on a wing and a prayer with no class!

Oh, no, I read the Taoiseach's words, and actually he does say that he listened to the Marty Whelan Show when the news was getting him down. It's there in black and white. (And red all over! )

I'd say the speech was captured by a tape recording or by a shorthand taker because it reads very homely. I think the international audience might have been stunned by the strong bond between the very highest in the land and RTE, and especially with the Marty Show. :eek:

Credit where it's due!

And I agree with everything else that Save Our Lyric says. I think we are much more like the plain people of Ireland that the ones who are giving out about Lyric. :rolleyes:

jmcc

Expunge wrote: »

That's a good point about the Wexford Festival. As fine as it is, it's no secret that they are struggling badly to keep it afloat in it's present form. Since BBC Radio 3 said goodbye to covering the festival, they've been floundering a bit. Now they need common people to stump up 120 Euro a ticket and they'll try ANYTHING, while holding their noses of course.

In these times, 120 Euro is a bit steep. It is a pity that they are struggling but losing BBC Radio 3 must have been a major blow. Promotion by Whelan hardly compares to the instant credibility that R3 would provide. There is almost something 'Winning Streak' like and quite sad in the way that it is promoted as just a competition opportunity rather than an event. The people who would attend would have done so as it is a major social event and because they like Opera. Would they even listen to that LyricFM programme?

Regards...jmcc

Yvonne23R

Expunge wrote: »

That's a good point about the Wexford Festival. As fine as it is, it's no secret that they are struggling badly to keep it afloat in it's present form. Since BBC Radio 3 said goodbye to covering the festival, they've been floundering a bit. Now they need common people to stump up 120 Euro a ticket and they'll try ANYTHING, while holding their noses of course.

I think that's a bit unfair to the show. Marty Whelan is the star attraction for the Gala Opening Night that people can win tickets to in the competition on the Show this week. And listen to the interviews with the Wexford Opera people that might still be on the site for listening back.

jmcc

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Oh, no, I read the Taoiseach's words, and actually he does say that he listened to the Marty Whelan Show when the news was getting him down. It's there in black and white. (And red all over! )

Willful misinterpretation again?

"Yet… in the worst of the economic downturn time and again we heard even news addicts say ’I couldn’t take any more of the bad news about banks and bailouts I switched to Lyric FM in the car in the mornings Marty Whelan makes me feel so much better.’"

That's the exact quote.

Regards...jmcc

jmcc

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Marty Whelan is the star attraction for the Gala Opening Night that people can win tickets to in the competition on the Show this week.

No. The star attractions are the operas and the people who stage them. It is rather crass to try appropriate their due credit for all that hard work and effort and attribute it to your beloved Marty.

Regards...jmcc

Yvonne23R

jmcc wrote: »

No. The star attractions are the operas and the people who stage them.

Regards...jmcc

You should hear what the people say about Mart. And just listen in just once - everyone who gets on says "thanks for the tunes, Mart" or "you make my day" or "loving your work" or "keep it up."

You get no begrudgery or cribbing or moaning from the plain people of Ireland.

jmcc

Yvonne23R wrote: »

You should hear what the people say about Mart.

Don't go attributing the credit for the hard work and effort of others to your beloved Marty.

And just listen in just once - everyone who gets on says "thanks for the tunes, Mart" or "you make my day" or "loving your work" or "keep it up."

Strange that none of the plain people of Ireland ever get on the show. There are no phone callers from what I remember. Just messages that are all strangely positive.

You get no begrudgery or cribbing or moaning from the plain people of Ireland.

We are the plain people of Ireland - the people outside the little goldfish bowl of RTE and its "personalities" and its cult of cling-ons. We are the people who pay and get rubbish like Mediocrity In The Morning. We are the plain people who get served MOTR shlock masquerading as Classical music by a badly managed Classical/Arts station. Now haven't you some tour or competition to be promoting?

Regards...jmcc

Calina

SaveOurLyric wrote: »

Where does this negative attitude come from? A popular and wide ranging show that surely uplifts all but the most sombre of moods.

It's not uplifting. It is utterly annoying. Uplifting is possibly some Vaughan Williams provided it's not the Lark Ascending, or maybe Pilgrims Chorus from Tannhauser but Marty Whelan is not uplifting.

I tried again this morning.

I got Paul Brady and some drivelsome nonsense with the traffic reporter.

This is not uplifting. It is deeply, deeply depressing.

Yvonne23R

Calina wrote: »

It's not uplifting. It is utterly annoying. Uplifting is possibly some Vaughan Williams provided it's not the Lark Ascending, or maybe Pilgrims Chorus from Tannhauser but Marty Whelan is not uplifting.

I tried again this morning.

I got Paul Brady and some drivelsome nonsense with the traffic reporter.

This is not uplifting. It is deeply, deeply depressing.

I don't agree. What Mart does is he gives a bit of personality to a time of the day that might be dull and dreary. Like with his witty off the cuff chats with Ciara on the AA Roadwatch packages. It makes everyone feel easy and relaxed.

If you are going to risk audience drift by playing the heavier stuff, you have to keep the listeners happily hooked especially at the programme points with a bit of the old banter. A bit of humanity never killed anybody.

Last week the second track in the running order one day was Green Sleeves by Vaughan-Williams. As it happens.

Calina

Yvonne23R wrote: »

I don't agree. What Mart does is he gives a bit of personality to a time of the day that might be dull and dreary. Like with his witty off the cuff chats with Ciara on the AA Roadwatch packages. It makes everyone feel easy and relaxed.

If I wanted that, I would listen to almost any other radio station in the country. Why can't you?

Yvonne23R wrote: »

If you are going to risk audience drift by playing the heavier stuff, you have to keep the listeners happily hooked especially at the programme points with a bit of the old banter. A bit of humanity never killed anybody.

Stop being insulting.

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Last week the second track in the running order one day was Green Sleeves by Vaughan-Williams. As it happens.

Greensleeves was not written by Ralph Vaughan-Williams. He has however done an arrangement of it. If you're interested in learning, then learn.

In the meantime, this morning what I got was Paul Brady.

Again, your need for banter and inanity is well served by most of the other radio stations in the country. I don't know why it is not permissible to ease into the day on just one. Just one radio station.

Sulla Felix

The hyperbole and purple prose in this thread reads like Stephanie Myers is part of the Marty fanclub.

I think some of the fans are, despite calling the rest of us elitist, actually showing just how elitist they are. Classical music isn't hard, it can appeal to the ordinary salt of the earth. We don't need Jon bon Jovi to do that. I doubt people who like Jovi are tuning in to Marty to hear that and then getting pleasantly surprised when they hear Greensleeves, experiencing an epiphany and then going out and buying tickets to the Opera festival.

Yvonne23R

Sulla Felix wrote: »

The hyperbole and purple prose in this thread reads like Stephanie Myers is part of the Marty fanclub.

I think some of the fans are, despite calling the rest of us elitist, actually showing just how elitist they are. Classical music isn't hard, it can appeal to the ordinary salt of the earth. We don't need Jon bon Jovi to do that. I doubt people who like Jovi are tuning in to Marty to hear that and then getting pleasantly surprised when they hear Greensleeves, experiencing an epiphany and then going out and buying tickets to the Opera festival.

OK, that's all wrong. I've gone on to the website and I have copied out and separated out the tracks from today's show.

Classical wins hands down on the playlist with 17 tracks against only 10 for popular music. You have your Vivaldi and Jenkins and Puccini on the heavy end, and you have that cut with approachable songs like William Shatner's cover of 'It Hasn't Happened Yet' and How D'Ya Like Your Eggs In The Morning? by Brodsky Beat. This is exactly like BBC Radio 3 that people always complain about: just check and see. The heavy and the light - the dull and the lively.

(And I've included "Pure Imagination" from Willie Wonka in the popular genre but it could be put in the classical genre as easily. Making it 18 to 9 classical to crossover.)

(And Hayley Westenra is in in the morning for a chat about her new album and her forthcoming your.)

Classical - 17 tracks
Mandolin Concerto In D Vivaldi, Antonio
Benedictus Jenkins, Karl
She Moved Through The Fair
Softly As I Leave You Harris, John/De Vita, Antonio
The Look Of Love Bacharach & David Album: Salsa Fever
O Soave Fanciulla Puccini, Giacomo
Little Serenade For String Orchestra Op.12 - Allegro Vivace
Larsson, Lars-Erik
Washington Post Sousa, John Philip
Bell Chorus Leoncavallo, Ruggero
Air On A G String Bach, Johann Sebastian
Love Theme From The Godfather Rota, Nino
Chi Mai Morricone, Ennio
I Went To A Marvellous Party Coward, Noel
Vieni Sul Mar Cardillo, Salvatore
Je Te Veux (Waltz) Satie, Erik
Humoresque-Waltz Shostakovitch, Dmitri
Funiculi, Funicula


Crossover - 10 tracks
The Long Goodbye Brady, Paul/Keating Ronan
Fly Me To The Moon Howard, Bart
Forrest Gump - Feather Theme Silvestri, Alan
Rule The World Barlow/Owen/Donald/Orange
Elusive Butterfly Lind, Bob
How D'Ya Like Your Eggs In The Morning? Brodsky/Cahn
Pure Imagination Newley/Bricusse
That Face Bergman/Spence
It Hasn't Happened Yet Shatner, William/Folds, Ben
Roxanne Sumner, Gordon

Baron Scarpia

Yvonne23R wrote: »

OK, that's all wrong. I've gone on to the website and I have copied out and separated out the tracks from today's show.

Classical wins hands down on the playlist with 17 tracks against only 10 for popular music. You have your Vivaldi and Jenkins and Puccini on the heavy end, and you have that cut with approachable songs like William Shatner's cover of 'It Hasn't Happened Yet' and How D'Ya Like Your Eggs In The Morning? by Brodsky Beat. This is exactly like BBC Radio 3 that people always complain about: just check and see. The heavy and the light - the dull and the lively.

(And I've included "Pure Imagination" from Willie Wonka in the popular genre but it could be put in the classical genre as easily. Making it 18 to 9 classical to crossover.)

(And Hayley Westenra is in in the morning for a chat about her new album and her forthcoming your.)

Classical - 17 tracks
Mandolin Concerto In D Vivaldi, Antonio
Benedictus Jenkins, Karl
She Moved Through The Fair
Softly As I Leave You Harris, John/De Vita, Antonio
The Look Of Love Bacharach & David Album: Salsa Fever
O Soave Fanciulla Puccini, Giacomo
Little Serenade For String Orchestra Op.12 - Allegro Vivace
Larsson, Lars-Erik
Washington Post Sousa, John Philip
Bell Chorus Leoncavallo, Ruggero
Air On A G String Bach, Johann Sebastian
Love Theme From The Godfather Rota, Nino
Chi Mai Morricone, Ennio
I Went To A Marvellous Party Coward, Noel
Vieni Sul Mar Cardillo, Salvatore
Je Te Veux (Waltz) Satie, Erik
Humoresque-Waltz Shostakovitch, Dmitri
Funiculi, Funicula


Crossover - 10 tracks
The Long Goodbye Brady, Paul/Keating Ronan
Fly Me To The Moon Howard, Bart
Forrest Gump - Feather Theme Silvestri, Alan
Rule The World Barlow/Owen/Donald/Orange
Elusive Butterfly Lind, Bob
How D'Ya Like Your Eggs In The Morning? Brodsky/Cahn
Pure Imagination Newley/Bricusse
That Face Bergman/Spence
It Hasn't Happened Yet Shatner, William/Folds, Ben
Roxanne Sumner, Gordon

This looks like a good wind-up to me or else someone trying to promote Marty's career. If neither, I am not getting into it with someone who considers "I went to a marvellous party" by Noel Coward to be a classical piece.

Has anyone ever added up the timings on the tracks on this show? It generally comes to 95-100 minutes and part of that is crossover/pop/musak. In other words RTE shoves aside classical music (on a classical music station) to allow for mindless yapping and parish magazine standard contributions from the public. Take a bow.

By the way, Marty is not an opera expert. If you do not know what an opera expert sounds like, tune in to the opera from the Met and listen to the interval discussion. Anyway, would anyone with a deep appreciation of opera stand over the playlist on MITM? Not in a million years.

For those who can't make Mart's intro to Tosca on the tour I imagine it would be a bit like this:

"You are in for a treat tonight. Opinions are divided but I think it is Verdi's masterpiece. Its a story about a singer Floria Tosca who falls in love with a bullfighter. His father is against this relationship and pleads with her to break it off. She does and eventually dies of consumption in a garret. He goes away to Japan, meets a local girl and leaves her up the duff. In the finale he is taken down to hell as a punishment. Serves him right if you ask me".

Woodville56

I haven't contributed to this thread previously and just came upon it under the latest postings tab. Do we have listening figures or ratings for the various LyricFM programmes and if so, where does Marty in the Morning figure in these ratings ? The proof of the pudding is in it's listenership numbers and how it compares with other Lyric programmes.

I have no problem admitting that I enjoy the programme in its present format and not being a musical high brow, I do find the (dare I use the word) variety of music refreshing and a nice start to the day. I also like Marty Whelan as a presenter . I'm finding the vitriol and nastiness levelled at the programme and it's presenter here surprising and quite unseemly . After all, he's a presenter doing the job he's paid for and obviously the programme is working otherwise its format or presentation would be changed. I would venture to suggest that if Marty was offered a day time slot on mainstream radio he would happily move there rather than the early morning gig. Also, while I would admit that some of the crossover stuff played is a bit left field for the programme even by my eclectic ear, by the same token, most of the middle of the road music Marty plays isn't usually heard on alternative ( 2fm etc )morning radio stations.

I wonder how the classical purists regard the afternoon JK Ensemble, which I also like and the Blue of the Night which I wind down to and which has some crossover content also. Are these type of programmes verboten also ??

It strikes me that there isn't a commercially viable market for a 100% pure classical radio station and in the absence of such a listenership market Lyric does it's best to to service a broader audience with a selection of middle to high brow programming choices. And while I wouldn't be a regular listener to the operatic aspects of the station, I certainly would never disrespect or bad mouth the listeners or presenters of that genre in the way Marty in the Morning has been treated in some postings here. It is public service broadcasting after all and as such, shouldn't be overly elitist or specialist . Live and let live I say , be it Elgar or Elbow!

HeidiHeidi

Woodville56 wrote: »

I haven't contributed to this thread previously and just came upon it under the latest postings tab. Do we have listening figures or ratings for the various LyricFM programmes and if so, where does Marty in the Morning figure in these ratings ? The proof of the pudding is in it's listenership numbers and how it compares with other Lyric programmes.

I have no problem admitting that I enjoy the programme in its present format and not being a musical high brow, I do find the (dare I use the word) variety of music refreshing and a nice start to the day. I also like Marty Whelan as a presenter . I'm finding the vitriol and nastiness levelled at the programme and it's presenter here surprising and quite unseemly . After all, he's a presenter doing the job he's paid for and obviously the programme is working otherwise its format or presentation would be changed. I would venture to suggest that if Marty was offered a day time a lot on mainstream radio he would happily move there rather than the early morning gig. Also, while I would admit that some of the crossover stuff played is somwwhat left field for the programme, by the same token, most of the middle of the road music Marty plays isn't usually heard on alternative ( 2fm etc )morning radio stations.
I wonder how the classical purists regard the afternoon JK Ensemble, which I also like and the Blue of the Night which I also wind down to and which has some crossover content also.
It strikes me that there isn't a commercially viable market for a 100% pure classical radio station and in the absence of such a listenership market Lyric does it's best to to service a broader audience with a selection of middle to high brow programming choices. And while I wouldn't be a regular listener to the operatic aspects of the station, I certainly would never disrespect or bad mouth the listeners or presenters of that genre in the way Marty in the Morning has been treated in some postings here. It is public service broadcasting after all and as such, shouldn't be overly elitist or specialist . Live and let live I say , be it Elgar or Elbow!

A very reasoned argument, most of which I agree with.

For me, and for most other posters giving out about the programme, it's the inane chat and stupid jokes and endless stories and the wittering on and on and on thinking he's the funniest man on radio that annoys.

If he'd just stick to playing music - any music - I'd be happy with that. It's a feckin' music station after all.

Woodville56

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

A very reasoned argument, most of which I agree with.

For me, and for most other posters giving out about the programme, it's the inane chat and stupid jokes and endless stories and the wittering on and on and on thinking he's the funniest man on radio that annoys.

If he'd just stick to playing music - any music - I'd be happy with that. It's a feckin' music station after all.

In fairness, some of the posters here are quite scornful not just of the chit chat but also the middle of the road / easy listening type music Marty plays alongside the classical pieces.
What kinda annoys me about this is the manner in which this music and those of us who enjoy the mix are dismissed and would be banished to other channels, few of which do that type of music in the morning.

Yvonne23R

Woodville56 wrote: »

I haven't contributed to this thread previously and just came upon it under the latest postings tab. Do we have listening figures or ratings for the various LyricFM programmes and if so, where does Marty in the Morning figure in these ratings ? The proof of the pudding is in it's listenership numbers and how it compares with other Lyric programmes.

I have no problem admitting that I enjoy the programme in its present format and not being a musical high brow, I do find the (dare I use the word) variety of music refreshing and a nice start to the day. I also like Marty Whelan as a presenter . I'm finding the vitriol and nastiness levelled at the programme and it's presenter here surprising and quite unseemly . After all, he's a presenter doing the job he's paid for and obviously the programme is working otherwise its format or presentation would be changed. I would venture to suggest that if Marty was offered a day time slot on mainstream radio he would happily move there rather than the early morning gig. Also, while I would admit that some of the crossover stuff played is a bit left field for the programme even by my eclectic ear, by the same token, most of the middle of the road music Marty plays isn't usually heard on alternative ( 2fm etc )morning radio stations.

I wonder how the classical purists regard the afternoon JK Ensemble, which I also like and the Blue of the Night which I wind down to and which has some crossover content also. Are these type of programmes verboten also ??

It strikes me that there isn't a commercially viable market for a 100% pure classical radio station and in the absence of such a listenership market Lyric does it's best to to service a broader audience with a selection of middle to high brow programming choices. And while I wouldn't be a regular listener to the operatic aspects of the station, I certainly would never disrespect or bad mouth the listeners or presenters of that genre in the way Marty in the Morning has been treated in some postings here. It is public service broadcasting after all and as such, shouldn't be overly elitist or specialist . Live and let live I say , be it Elgar or Elbow!

This is very fair and evenhanded and it's very much what I feel and what I hear from anyone else I know who enjoys Marty Whelan's Show and who had a wide-ranging taste in music. I've no problem with concerts of symphonies all evening on Lyric. But it would be just too much in the morning really without being diluted with more popular quality music.

HeidiHeidi

Yvonne23R wrote: »

This is very fair and evenhanded and it's very much what I feel and what I hear from anyone else I know who enjoys Marty Whelan's Show and who had a wide-ranging taste in music. I've no problem with concerts of symphonies all evening on Lyric. But it would be just too much in the morning really without being diluted with more popular quality music.

Like I say, if he'd stick to the music I could take it.

It's a music station.

Yvonne23R

Baron Scarpia wrote: »

This looks like a good wind-up to me or else someone trying to promote Marty's career. If neither, I am not getting into it with someone who considers "I went to a marvellous party" by Noel Coward to be a classical piece.

By the way, Marty is not an opera expert. If you do not know what an opera expert sounds like, tune in to the opera from the Met and listen to the interval discussion. Anyway, would anyone with a deep appreciation of opera stand over the playlist on MITM? Not in a million years.

For those who can't make Mart's intro to Tosca on the tour I imagine it would be a bit like this:

"You are in for a treat tonight. Opinions are divided but I think it is Verdi's masterpiece. Its a story about a singer Floria Tosca who falls in love with a bullfighter. His father is against this relationship and pleads with her to break it off. She does and eventually dies of consumption in a garret. He goes away to Japan, meets a local girl and leaves her up the duff. In the finale he is taken down to hell as a punishment. Serves him right if you ask me".

Some of this must be meant to be comical. I assume it's a joke. Tosca isn't in Carmen, and the Japanese thing is either The Mikado or Madame Butterfly. But - and I speak now from experience - Marty is knowledgeable about opera. Today after the bit in La Boheme by Puccini he was talking about how the singer at the end of the Aria sounds like she's singing from outside in the car park. He has seen this opera in live venues many times he was saying - even in Verona where the programme is going this summer.

Noel Coward was a marvellous pianist and a great songwriter and still holds up interestingly even today. And the song was on because today is his anniversary so there's a link. We were at the play that Marty recommended in the Gate a couple of weeks ago and it was really enjoyable too. I think what he does is he makes all the "Arts" available to the plain people of Ireland whether it's John O'Connor or Noel Coward or the Wexford Opera or Hayley Westenra (whose coming in tomorrow). And he was saying today that he hopes that Karl Jenkins will be in for a chat before his 70th birthday (!) concert with the RTE Symphony Orchestra in May.

So, give it an old listen with an open mind.

HeidiHeidi

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Some of this must be meant to be comical. I assume it's a joke. Tosca isn't in Carmen, and the Japanese thing is either The Mikado or Madame Butterfly. But - and I speak now from experience - Marty is knowledgeable about opera. Today after the bit in La Boheme by Puccini he was talking about how the singer at the end of the Aria sounds like she's singing from outside in the car park. He has seen this opera in live venues many times he was saying - even in Verona where the programme is going this summer.

Noel Coward was a marvellous pianist and a great songwriter and still holds up interestingly even today. And the song was on because today is his anniversary so there's a link. We were at the play that Marty recommended in the Gate a couple of weeks ago and it was really enjoyable too. I think what he does is he makes all the "Arts" available to the plain people of Ireland whether it's John O'Connor or Noel Coward or the Wexford Opera or Hayley Westenra (whose coming in tomorrow). And he was saying today that he hopes that Karl Jenkins will be in for a chat before his 70th birthday (!) concert with the RTE Symphony Orchestra in May.

So, give it an old listen with an open mind.

I hope you're getting a big commission from the Wexford Opera and Hayley, cos you're doing sterling work for them. How many plugs for each by this point? (Except that you've put me right off the WO if Marty is going to feature as largely as you say......)

SaveOurLyric

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

I hope you're getting a big commission from the Wexford Opera and Hayley, cos you're doing sterling work for them. How many plugs for each by this point? (Except that you've put me right off the WO if Marty is going to feature as largely as you say......)

Wexford Opera Festival does a decent job. Not excellent. But good. But 'opera rara' is not quite the 'rara' that it used to be. With more opera houses and opera festivals exploring the wider repertoire throughout Europe, and the recording companies searching ever deeper for new material to record, their niche has become more competitive. Moving into less opera buff territory using the like of popular media figures like Mart is probably a good move to break down some of the stuffy image that WOF cultivated in the past.

SaveOurLyric

jmcc wrote: »

More marketing and did she even say that she is a fan or is this another of your "claims" about that dire show? Anyway most artists do promote events by appearing on radio and TV. Whelan's show is probably just on the list of shows.

Regards...jmcc

I think she is a great fan. And her fans are fans. This is a great site for keeping up to date with her, and even has a thread dedicated to her appearances on Lyric! Lyrics fans are worldwide!
http://hwi.proboards.com/thread/823/rte-lyric-fm-ireland

(BTW, another great site for keeping up to date with her is http://hayleywestenra.com)

Looking forward to tomorrow !

SaveOurLyric

jmcc wrote: »

Good catch.
This is the exact quote from the published speech: "Yet… in the worst of the economic downturn time and again we heard even news addicts say ’I couldn’t take any more of the bad news about banks and bailouts I switched to Lyric FM in the car in the mornings Marty Whelan makes me feel so much better.’" Note that it is not him saying that he listens to Mediocrity In The Morning but rather "news addicts".

This is not the first time that one of the vast multitude of pro-Marty promoters has been caught out. Remember Yvonne trying to spin a rather cutting Sunday Times Culture section article as being a glowing endorsement for Whelan when it was quite the opposite?

Regards...jmcc

Not sure what the 'catch' is (you're not answering one of your phantom posts by any chance?). The point I was making was not that Enda listens to MITM, but that so many people do. So many, that even he is conscious of how many people have said to him that they do. And that he makes reference to this fact in a speech on radio (whether he really said it or not I cannot say and that point is moot to this discussion).
On the same topic, being a new follower of this thread, I took a look at the first page of the thread from way back when. There was without doubt a majority supporting and approving of the show. But it seems that over time, the general fan of the show has been hounded away from the thread, leaving it to a handful of to stand up to the oprobrium (at times verging on downright bullying and personal abuse). This may have given the anti-Marty brigade a very false sense of the numbers of those pro or anti the Lyric revamp of a few years ago.

SaveOurLyric

Yvonne23R wrote: »

Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (which Mart says is really about Linda Martin - that's an RTE in-joke)

And a damn good one too. (if only for the cognoscenti) :P;)

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Baron Scarpia wrote: »

For those who can't make Mart's intro to Tosca on the tour I imagine it would be a bit like this:

"You are in for a treat tonight. Opinions are divided but I think it is Verdi's masterpiece. Its a story about a singer Floria Tosca who falls in love with a bullfighter. His father is against this relationship and pleads with her to break it off. She does and eventually dies of consumption in a garret. He goes away to Japan, meets a local girl and leaves her up the duff. In the finale he is taken down to hell as a punishment. Serves him right if you ask me".

Mmmmmm.....

I can tell you that if he were to do a parody opera mash up, he wouldnt be limited to the handful of most widely performed operas....

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Yvonne23R wrote: »

and the Japanese thing is either The Mikado or Madame Butterfly.

I dont think there was any leaving up the duff in the Mikado.
So probably Madama Butterfly. Wouldnt a mix of the two be just great though ?

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HeidiHeidi wrote: »

It's a music station.

It is. And broadly, thats what it delivers. With a little chat and refreshment to link the music. By thy way, those bemoaning the breadth of music on offer throughout the day, should not be disappointed. Its no less than Lyric sets out to deliver : "RTÉ lyric fm is a music station with a classical bias whilst also offering the listener a vast and eclectic array of music from all periods, continents, genres, styles and expressive forms.".