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Classical music TV series won't air on Channel 9, but there are other ways to see it
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During September and October, a national, full-page color ad promoting an informative and entertaining public-television series on three classical music composers has run in the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra’s edition of that venerable program magazine.
The series – the second season of “Keeping Score” – explores the stories behind the symphonies of three giants of the music world: Hector Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique,” Charles Ives’ “Holidays Symphony,” and the monumental Symphony No. 5 by the greatest symphonist of the 20th century, Dmitri Shostakovich.
Fans seeing that ad in their program may well have “checked local listings” for the series that has aired on PBS stations nationwide in October.
St. Louisans looked in vain, but no one has contacted the local PBS station to complain, said Terri Gates, public relations manager for KETC-TV, Channel 9.
The station has no intention of running the series, but “we never say ‘never,’” Gates said.
“There are an unbelievable number of great programs available to us from public television suppliers, and there simply are not enough hours in the day to broadcast them all,” she continued. “Even programs that we can obtain ‘free’ have costs associated with them, so when constructing our program schedule, we are mindful of having a broad mix that speaks to the diverse interests and needs of our community. Not every good program can possibly make it onto our schedule.”
It’s too bad that the series—featuring host and co-executive producer Michael Tilson Thomas, music director of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra—likely won’t be on the air here. But Channel 9 is doing a lot right. Per capita, it’s the most-watched PBS station in the nation. www.ketc.org
I’ll run reviews of all three second-year shows in the hopes that the station will change its mind, and also because the shows’ availability as outlined below. I’ll review season two after a mini-review of the first season in November.
A quick summary comment here: Anyone interested in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” and Aaron Copland would do well to obtain this series from any of the various outlets that offer them. There’s also a DVD featuring Tilson Thomas and the making of Tchaikovsky’s fourth symphony. All shows entertainingly convey the subject matter.
Ordering and viewing information:
-- Season one episodes on DVD, including full performances of the featured works, are available from such retail outlets as www.amazon.com, www.bn.com, and www.ArchivMusic.com, as well as from the San Francisco Symphony’s e-store, www.shopsfsymphony.org.
-- Season two episodes will be available on DVD from the same outlets in November and on Blu-Ray in 2010.
-- Full episodes of several “Keeping Score” programs are available to stream free from PBS Video. At this point, the programs on Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Berlioz are available for streaming. By the end of October, the Ives and Shostakovich should also be available on the site, according to Angela Duryea of Schuman Associates, the firm handling publicity for “Keeping Score.”
-- CDs of all “Keeping Score”-featured works will be available shortly at shopsfsymphony.org and from the above retail outlets in 2010.
Critics have applauded the series. A third season is planned, with Gustav Mahler as one of the subjects.
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