New Zealand Listener – June 08, 2019

72 LISTENER JUNE 8 2019

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT

The Best of the Week

SATURDAY JUNE 8

Music Alive (RNZ Concert,

7. 3 0 p m). The Michael Hill
   International Violin Competi-
   tion is live from the Auckland
   Town Hall, as the final three
   competitors perform with the
   Auckland Philharmonia
   Orchestra. The
   finalists have a
   choice of 14
   concerti, so the
   selection will
   be a surprise
   on the night.
   The winner
   receives $40,000,
   a tour in 2020 and a
   professional development
   programme.

SUNDAY JUNE 9

Opera on Sunday (RNZ Concert,

6.00pm). Verdi’s much-loved

Aida is tonight’s opera

and it features acclaimed

Russian soprano Anna

Netrebko in her first

time in the lead

role at the Met. A

triumph, said the

critics, especially

in her duos with

mezzo Anita

Rachvelishvili,

as the king’s

daughter, Amn-

eris. Latvian

tenor Aleksandrs Antoņenko

is the Egyptian captain,

Radamès.

WEDNESDAY JUNE 12

Music Alive (RNZ Concert,

8.00pm). The Carnegie Hall

Live season opened with

this gala concert

featuring superstar

sopranos Renée

Fleming and

six-time Tony

Award-winner

Audra McDon-

ald. The evening

features a selec-

tion of Gershwin,

including the favourites

Summertime and An American

in Paris; a number of Broadway

hits; and works by Liszt, Villa-

Lobos, Berlioz and

Mahler. Michael

Tilson Thomas

conducts the

San Francisco

Symphony.

by FIONA RAE

Send comments, queries or complaints about radio or tele vision

to: [email protected], or Talkback, NZ Listener, Private Bag

92512, Wellesley St, Auckland 1141.

TAME ANSWER

TVNZ’s decision to appoint

Jack Tame as frontman for

Q+A (TVNZ 1, Monday,

9.30pm) was inspired. He is

personable, knowledgeable

and puts good, hard ques-

tions to his interviewees.

It’s a shame, though, that

Q+A has stealthily crept to a

shorter length. In its Sunday

morning slot, there were few

adverts. Now, the programme

is shown as the same length

in the schedules, but plays

for less time because of the

usual number of irritating

Monday night ads.

Nicola Flute

(South New Brighton, Christchurch)

I am pleased to have Q+A

back on our screen, and with

Jack Tame, who is pleasant

and well-informed, but I miss

the panel. Are there plans to

bring it back?

And what about Three’s

The Nation? I hope it will

be back, too, complete with

panel.

LM Barnett

(Diamond Harbour)

Talkback responds: TVNZ tells

us it has not featured the panel

segment on recent episodes of

Q+A, but that it might bring it

back in future. On Three, The

Nation is now called Newshub

Nation and screens on Satur-

days (9.30am), with a repeat on

Sundays (10.00am). Three says

it still has a panel, which is a

lively part of each week’s show.

SLAM DUNK

Popular prime-time pro-

grammes often appear to

involve people competing to

see who can be the silliest or

the most outrageous.

How refreshing to watch

Steven Adams calmly

inspiring young people to

be the best they can be on

the basketball court and in

their lives on Holding Court

with Steven Adams (Māori TV,

Sunday, 4.00pm).

The youngsters are focused

and articulate and speak

about their aspirations and

their joy in the game of

basketball. No tantrums,

no histrionics, no tears, no

look-at-me, just skill and

dedication to their chosen

game and good sportsman-

ship. Brilliant.

Anne Martin

(Helensville)

CAMPBELL’S ‘BREAKFAST’

I am warming to John Camp-

bell on Breakfast (weekdays,

6.00am), and he seems to

have good rapport with his

fellow presenters, but his ear-

nestness is always overdone.

If this and his gesturing could

be reduced, well, maybe ...

Graeme Leary

(Clevedon)

FARMED OUT?

There are lots of programmes

about British farms on our

TV screens. Do we sell the

wonderful Country Calendar

to other countries?

Audrey Trimmer

(Whangarei)

Talkback responds: TVNZ

advises that Country Calen-

dar does not play in any other

markets.

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Renée Fleming,

Music Alive,

Wednesday.

Your comments on TV and radio

Talkback

PODCAST OF THE WEEK

HATE SPEECH

Dylan Marron’s Conversations with People Who Hate Me may

be the podcast we need right now. It began with Marron

contacting people who criticised him online. Quite often, the

results were surprising. The podcast has lately included mod-

erated conversations between strangers. “It’s a reminder that

there’s a human on the other side of the screen,” says Marron.

dylanmarron.com/podcast