As one orchestral manager put it to me, rather wearily, "It's funny how what comes around, goes around, isn't it?"
Indeed it is. Last night, Roger Wright, controller of BBC Radio 3, announced at the Association of British Orchestras' conference that from May, Performance on 3 would be moved back to 7.30pm from the 7pm slot it had occupied since 2007. And it would now focus (once again) on live concerts, rather than mainly pre-recorded events.
Sense of deja vu ? Anyone feel like saying, "I told you so?"
Back in 2007, hardly anyone thought that the reduction in live evening broadcasts was a good idea – even given the benefits it brought to the predictability of the late-evening schedule, which could proceed undisturbed by the variable finishing time of concerts. I certainly didn't, and wrote a piece to say so.
Still, Wright should be congratulated on bringing us these 46 weeks per year of live evening broadcasts (a larger number than the pre-2007 figure). There really is nothing like the feeling of eavesdropping on a great event – even if the presenters have to fill a bit while the piano is moved across the stage, or if the whole thing is a bit unpredictable or shaky. In fact, that's partly what makes it so exciting, and why the Proms live broadcasts in the summer are such a treat. Weekday evenings are, from May, going to be a better, brighter place.
