Barrel Strength

I was dismayed but not really surprised to read in the July 2 Ottawa Citizen that mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah will host CBC Radio Two’s only program devoted solely to classical music come September, the 10am - 3pm weekday slot of an as-yet unnamed show.

Not that I have anything against Ms Nesrallah, she is a talented singer with a charming onstage manner. It was the dismissal in the article of very talented current classical show hosts like Tom Allen and Eric Friesen by Programming Director Chris Boyce with inane statements like “she really knows this stuff” and “the conversation she will be having about it will be really intelligent conversation.”

Mr. Boyce appears not to know anything about classical music or ever listen to Radio Two’s current programming; if he did, he would be aware that it is not possible to have more intelligent and knowledgeable conversation about classical music than we currently get from the two broadcasters mentioned above - and they are charming and entertaining to boot. But neither one has been offered the prize. Instead it has gone to someone with no broadcast experience of any kind. What could the reason be?

What does Julie Nesrallah represent? The same thing our charming GG represents, and who was chosen for the same reasons. Yes, you guessed it - the new multicultural face of Canada. Ms Nesrallah is female, off-white and of non-European ancestry. The CBC poohbahs must imagine that she will naturally attract all those “new” Canadians who currently listen to ethnic radio or CDs from their country of origin, because she will reflect them. Well, no, she will not turn them into new listeners of Radio Two - the reason they don’t listen to CBC is because they prefer to hear music they are used to and commentary in a language they speak fluently.

And she is a star! So doubtless she will also attract all those people who have never listened to classical music because it is presented by some dull broadcaster they never heard of. But here’s a flash for the geniuses at CBC Programming like Chris Boyce - people who don’t already enjoy classical music have never heard of Julie Nesrallah either, and they couldn’t care less.

The formerly small but loyal audience for Radio Two is about to vanish into a black hole as a result of the new “vision” for the station, which is really just the political agenda, or politically correct agenda, of the little band of tired left-liberals who now run the CBC. All Radio Two will “reflect” is their view of Canada as they think it should be, not as it really is. And we “old” Canadians who love classical music will tune in to BBC and NPR classical on the Internet, or join the “new” Canadians and just listen to our CDs.