Euroclassic Notturno, RTE's night-time extension to its FM3 service is a welcome development, writes Michael Dervan. The extra six hours between midnight and 6 a.m., based around the Europe-wide sharing of tapes among member stations of the European Broadcasting Union, will greatly broaden the range of music available on RTE as well as bringing Irish music-making to a wider international audience - this week, an NSO concert under Alexander Anissimov and performances from the West Cork Chamber Music Festival. The new satellite link-up service also constitutes an important step towards RTE's declared target of providing a 24-hour classical music station. The new segment is a lot more substantial in content than anything offered by Classic FM outside of its evening concert slot. A sampling of the service revealed some teething problems: an announcer cut off in mid word for overshooting her allotted time and reversed channels placing the orchestral violins on the right of the soundstage. But the biggest drawback is the lack of information in the RTE Guide, which gives not a single clue to any night's content. For that, Irish listeners will have to buy Radio Times, which details the five hours (1 a.m. to 6 a.m.) also broadcast by BBC Radio 3.