I'm sorry Jack but that comment is as far from the truth as you could get.

I listen to Radio 3 every day (along with other radio particularly R6 and R4). What I can't listen to I catch up with on BBC Sounds. There is a huge amount of superb music from a range of genres - though I was very disappointed that they cut Music Planet from two hours to one - as well as some very interesting spoken word programmes about diverse issues. Composer of the Week that you refer to is on 5 hours every week and only very occasionally features Shostakovich!

I agree with you though that Radio 3 would be a good place for a folk programme - though I happen to enjoy the R2 programme most weeks and was glad to see the Seth Lakeman programme being aired imperfect though it is. Some people wish there were more earlier singers and I wish there had been more of the cutting edge musicians who are performing and writing music now featured so lets face it whatever they did in one hour would leave some of us feeling bereft. They could have taken up a whole programme featuring the work of the late, great Martyn Bennett alone!