I’ve been thinking about Bliss Michelson incessantly since I learned of his death late yesterday afternoon. Bliss, who was production manager at WWFM The Classical Network from 1992 to 2011, died on Sunday of complications from COVID-19. His wife, Peggy, preceded him on February 26.
First of all, thank you for your condolences. I want to make it very clear that this is not “my” loss, so much as it is a loss to anyone who knew or listened to him. Bliss was so talented at what he did. I already stated, he was probably the best all-around radio host I ever worked with, in terms of being able to do it all – knowledgeable, efficient, personable, conversational, an avuncular presence, impeccable in his pronunciation, and a varied, balanced, and interesting programmer – a real pro. I never saw anyone navigate production work the way he did, while simultaneously doing a live air shift. And he was such a nice man.
I certainly do not want to give the impression that we were joined at the hip, but we did have a very long association, dating back to 1995, which continued when we worked together at WRTI. If anything, he was like an uncle to me. You can learn a little more about our interactions if you read my post from yesterday.
Of course, on the most basic level, we shared a passion for music, and because of Bliss’ love of composers from the Northern countries, I have a lot of fond memories of our bonding over Sibelius.
Perhaps cryptically, I concluded last night by mentioning Sibelius’ Fourth. This is Sibelius’ weirdest, gloomiest symphony, a work written under the shadow of death, as the composer had recently undergone a series of surgeries for throat cancer. It is an austerely beautiful piece, though admittedly it does go to some very strange places.
Bliss’ morning air shift on The Classical Network ran to 10 a.m. Earlier in the morning, he would mix up the Vivaldi and the Haydn and the Dvořák, with enough lesser-known repertoire to keep it fresh and engaging. But by 9, he would often go for something a little longer, and sometimes a little more challenging. Personally, with Sibelius’ Fourth, I can’t understand what all the fuss is about, but it tends to rub listeners the wrong way. Or at least it manages to wind up the one crank in the audience who is going to call and complain.
Bliss was generally pretty unflappable, but I remember at least once he was not happy with a phone message from a listener that it fell upon me to convey. I hasten to add, for the most part Bliss was a teddy bear, not a bottle of nitroglycerin, as I tend to be. But I chuckle sometimes to think of his reaction.
At any rate, a memo was passed around that we shouldn’t be playing Sibelius’ Fourth in the mornings. I prefer to think that this was not disobeyed, but rather conveniently forgotten.
This one’s for you, Bliss.
(By coincidence, the video was posted by someone using the screen name Furtwangler, who happened to be one of Bliss’ favorite conductors.)
