New_Zealand_Listener_09_14_2019

72 LISTENER SEPTEMBER 14 2019

The Best of the Week

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 15

Opera on Sunday (RNZ Con-

cert, 6.00pm). Sir John Eliot

Gardiner and the Orchestre

Révolutionnaire et Roman-

tique have been treating Proms

audiences to the music of

Hector Berlioz for the past five

years, possibly in preparation

for this very moment. This

year marks the orchestra’s 30th

anniversary and the 150th

anniversary of the French

composer’s death, and

the commemora-

tions climax

with the rarely

performed

Benvenuto

Cellini, based

on the life of

the Renaissance

sculptor. The

Monteverdi Choir

is joined by US tenor

Michael Spyres in the title role

and Puerto Rican-American

soprano Sophia Burgos as

Teresa, his inamorata.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 16

Music Alive (RNZ Concert,

8.00pm). There’s a lot of age

and experience on stage at the

Royal Albert Hall in tonight’s

Prom: Dutch conductor Ber-

nard Haitink was 90 this year,

and the Vienna Philharmonic

are enjoying their 65th anni-

versary. They will be joined by

70-year-old pianist Emanuel

Ax, who performs Beethoven’s

Piano Concerto No 4, the

composer’s farewell to the

performing stage. The orches-

tra follow with Bruckner’s

Symphony No 7, his homage to

Wagner, his mentor.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 18

Music Alive (RNZ Concert,

8.00pm). Superstar pianist

Yuja Wang will perform the

difficult Piano Concerto

No 3, by Rachmani-

nov, in Prom 63,

accompanied

by the Staatska-

pelle Dresden

conducted by

Myung-Whun

Chung. Wang

recorded the con-

certo in 2013, and told

NPR that “Rach 3” reminds

her of legendary improvisa-

tional jazz pianist Art Tatum’s

playing.

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.

SOUND OFF

On August 26, two new series

started and, as they were on

at the same time, I decided to

record them both and watch

at a later date.

My wife and I watched

Wild Bill (TVNZ 1) first and

both agreed we had trouble

hearing the dialogue. We

then watched The Gulf

(Three), and although it was

slightly better, we had to

concentrate to hear it.

Today, I’ve just watched an

episode of Dad’s Army, which

must be well over 50 years

old, and every word was as

clear as a bell. Can someone

explain why this is? It’s not

as if music drowned out the

voices, as there was very

little.

Mike Walmsley

(Whitianga)

Talkback responds: This has

been an enduring issue with

Talkback correspondents,

unfortunately without

resolution. It appears the

music in modern TV shows

has been mixed with home

theatre in mind, so if you don’t

have multiple speakers, the

sound is not being separated.

Advice gleaned online suggests

adjusting sound settings on

your TV and also on any

other devices, such as a Sky

or Freeview box. Another

suggestion is to buy a sound

bar for your TV, which may

cope with background music

and dialogue better. Some

correspondents say they watch

TV with the captioning on, so

at least they know what is being

said.

OFFPUTTING EUPHEMISMS

Good spotting, Helen

Thompson (Talkback,

August 31), of the female

actor appearing in both

funeral insurance and travel

advertisements.

In regard to the former, are

there other viewers who feel

as I and many of my friends

do when we are subjected to

the patronising, demeaning

dialogue used in the New

Zealand Seniors funeral insur-

ance ads?

The use of euphemisms

to disguise the apparently

dreaded D-word has the

reverse effect on us and

simply diverts us to other

options when considering

this serious topic in our

‘’senior’’ years.

Lyn van Gemerden

(Whanganui)

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

Attitude, on TVNZ 1, is an

excellent New Zealand

documentary series shown

at unsuitable times for most

of the population – Sunday

at 11am, and repeated after

midnight.

It is about ordinary people

and the magnificent efforts

they and their helpers make

so they can live normal,

independent lives.

I suggest Attitude be put

back at the earlier and more

watchable time after Praise

Be, in place of or before The

Big Ward and the following

20/20, which is largely Ameri-

can content.

EH Riley

(Dunedin)

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Sophia Burgos, Opera on Sunday.

Your comments on TV and radio

Talkback

PODCAST OF THE WEEK

Outlook: Moggy

If you’re interested in what the UK Conservatives are thinking,

they don’t come much more conservative than The Mogg-

cast, a fortnightly podcast with Tory politician and current

Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg. Recent

episodes have featured Rees-Mogg’s sister, Annunziata, a

former journalist who is an MEP for the Brexit Party. tinyurl.

com/NZLMoggcast