Intermission Features
Because live opera includes lengthy intermissions between multiple acts, the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts offer informative and entertaining opera-related intermission features. These include discussions of the opera being performed, roundtables, quizzes, interviews with various current and retired opera performers, and information on notable behind-the-scenes Met staff members. Since 2006, the lead singers of the day's opera have also been interviewed live as they leave the stage. Starting in December 2009, a new feature called Talking Opera explains various terminology used in the opera world.
Among the most popular intermission features is the Opera Quiz. The quiz is usually about 20 minutes long and features a host asking a panel of three experts questions about opera which have been submitted by listeners. First introduced on December 7, 1940 as the Opera Question Forum, the Quiz was originally hosted by Milton Cross. Robert Lawrence was the Quiz host in the 1941/42 season. The 1942/43 broadcast season began with Robert Lawrence alternating with Olin Downes but in January 1943 Olin Downes became the steady Quiz host and remained until 1948. For the next ten years, the Quiz hosts were Robert Lawrence, Sigmund Spaeth, Boris Goldovsky, Deems Taylor, and Jay Harrison. From 1958 to 1996 the host was Edward Downes, Olin's son. During this time the quiz became more relaxed and featured humor and banter among the panelists as well as informative answers. Frequent guest panelists during Edward Downes's tenure as host included actors Tony Randall and Walter Slezak in addition to well-known musicians and critics including Alberta Masiello, a Met staff musical coach. Since the death of Edward Downes, the host chair has been occupied by guest quizmasters, among whom have recently been leading Met singers. During the years that the broadcasts were sponsored by Texaco, listeners whose questions were used on air were awarded gifts that usually included opera recordings and a portable radio.
Other intermission features over the years have included Opera News on the Air, the Singers’ Roundtable, and annual interviews with the Metropolitan Opera’s general managers. Boris Goldovsky, an opera producer and lecturer known for making opera more accessible to audiences, hosted a series of musical lectures from 1946 to the mid-1980s. Analyzing the opera being performed that day, he spoke and played the piano, illustrating his comments with musical excerpts.
Commentators for the various intermission segments during the Met broadcasts have also included Marcia Davenport who appeared weekly in the 1930s, author and radio host George Jellinek, music historian and translator William Weaver, opera critic Speight Jenkins, opera historian Alan Wagner, and classics scholar Father Owen Lee.
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