[Bellinilover]

My brother told me this evening that Ms. Juntwait had died. I was very surprised as I had no idea she was ill, or even that she had stopped hosting (I haven't heard a complete Met broadcast since last December, when she was still working). Though I've always been partial to the previous host of the Met broadcasts, Peter Allen, I thought Margaret did a fine job and had a good radio voice. Here's her Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Juntwait

 

[Itullian]

I wondered why she was gone for so long.
Sad
RIP

 

[Bellinilover]

What is the name of the current Met broadcast host?

 

[Itullian]

Sorry, her name slips my mind at the moment.

 

[Woodduck]

Sorry to hear it. She was ill for quite some time. It's probably good that her co-host, Ira Siff, doesn't have to go on the air just now. I sensed that they were fond of each other. For some reason Siff doesn't rate a mention in her Wiki piece.

 

[nina foresti]

Mary Jo Heath was her very able substitute. Who they will choose now is still a mystery. It would be nice if they would keep her.
Margaret Juntwait was such a charming, lovely woman with a beautiful speaking voice, and to have to be taken at such a young age -- a tragedy!

 

[Bellinilover]

Mary Jo Heath was her very able substitute. Who they will choose now is still a mystery. It would be nice if they would keep her.
Margaret Juntwait was such a charming, lovely woman with a beautiful speaking voice, and to have to be taken at such a young age -- a tragedy!

I must say too that the previous host, Peter Allen, always sounded like such a charming man, and like a throwback to the earlier days of radio. I can still hear his voice in my mind (he was host when I first started listening to the broadcasts in December 1997). As far as I know, he's still living.

 

[OperaMaven]

I must say too that the previous host, Peter Allen, always sounded like such a charming man, and like a throwback to the earlier days of radio. I can still hear his voice in my mind (he was host when I first started listening to the broadcasts in December 1997). As far as I know, he's still living.

I'm old enough to remember when Peter Allen took over from Milton Cross - quite a drastic change in vocal color and approach! Cross always took his opera oh-so-seriously, and Allen's breezy, sometimes flippant manner took a lot of getting used to.

Allen is still alive - but he's like 95 years old, and it would be cruelty to put him back in the box.

How about Lisa Simeone, who's been doing such a good job with "World of Opera"?