Radio 3's classical chart goes top of the cornpops

"Radio 3" and "chart countdown" aren't phrases that usually appear in the same sentence. But – hold on to your hats! – from next week, In Tune, Sean Rafferty's drivetime show , and Breakfast will feature top tunes from the hit parade. Don't hold your breath for Lady Gaga or Cheryl Cole over your cornflakes. Instead, Radio 3 will play hits from the top 20 of the official Specialist Classical Chart . This poll was launched last year as a way to create a classical chart that had some musical credibility, rather than another list stuffed with the ersatz croonings of La Jenkins and Il Divo, compilations of soothing classical massage-music, or soundtracks by Hans Zimmer . The chart's rules are strict – no compilations and no film music. Going by this week's lineup, there's little to scare the horses of the Radio 3 old guard both within Broadcasting House and among the listening millions. Mackerras's Mozart , Hough 's Chopin, Chailly's Bach and Kaufmann's Schubert are all there, proving that recordings of serious repertoire in serious performances can still shift a few units (even if there's also some pompous Jon Lord orchestral tracks at No 4). However, there is a canker in the apple. Sitting atop the chart, in all his flaxen-haired, ruff-enruffled glory, is André Rieu's Forever Vienna, a musical concoction of purest kitsch, in which arrangements of Strauss waltzes are subjected to the Rieu treatment , a ludicrous, nostalgic resurrection of the bloated corpse of Viennese imperialism. And by a Dutchman, too. In Tune is duty-bound to play the No 1 on Mondays, so you may have to endure a roulade of Rieu as you're negotiating the M1 next week, but at least on Breakfast, Rob Cowan and Sara Mohr-Pietsch will have their pick of the rest of the chart. So tune in, pop-pickers, for Radio 3's take on the chart show, starting next week. And pray that Rieu gets knocked off the top of the chart, fast.