News from the Metropolitan Opera
PETER ALLEN RETIRES AS ANNOUNCER FOR THE METROPOLITAN OPERA RADIO BROADCASTS
By Metropolitan Opera Guild
May 24, 2004, 16:35

Metropolitan Opera general manager Joseph Volpe announced today that Peter Allen, the announcer for the Met’s Saturday Afternoon Radio Broadcasts for the past 29 years, has decided to retire, having completed the Met’s 2003-04 broadcast season on April 24 of this year.


“We have been very fortunate to have Peter Allen as the voice of the Met on the air for so many years. His vast knowledge of opera and his assured, unflappable presence have added interest and dignity to our broadcasts, and we will sorely miss him,” said Mr. Volpe.


Mr. Allen commented, “Except for my marriage, the broadcasts – and preparing for them – have been the richest experience of my life. I’ll miss them and the many helpful friends I’ve been lucky enough to work with. But the broadcasts are demanding, and it’s probably best for them and me to sign off while I’m ahead. And of course, I’m not abandoning opera, or those good friends. In fact, I may well continue to work with opera and those friends – if ‘work’ is the right word.”


Peter Allen took over as host for the Metropolitan Opera Saturday Afternoon Radio Broadcasts on January 4, 1975, at a performance of Rossini’s “L’Italiana in Algeri,” when Milton Cross, the announcer since the broadcasts’ inception, died suddenly the previous day. Mr. Allen was a staff announcer at New York radio station WQXR and had been Mr. Cross’s standby for the previous season. Since 1931, when the Met’s radio broadcasts began, there have been only two regular announcers, Mr. Cross and Mr. Allen, and only one substitute announcer heard on the air, Lloyd Moss, who took over two broadcasts in 1973.


In addition to hosting the Met’s radio broadcasts every Saturday afternoon from December through April without missing a broadcast, for the past 29 years, Mr. Allen has had a long career as actor, announcer and narrator in radio, film and television. Since 1977, he has also served as announcer for the Met’s telecast series “Live from the Met” and “The Metropolitan Opera Presents.” He wrote and narrated “Talking about ‘The Ring’,” a four-CD set about Wagner’s ‘Der Ring des Nibelungen’, and “Talking about ‘La Traviata’,” for the Metropolitan Opera Guild. He was a staff announcer at WQXR, the radio station of The New York Times from 1947 – 1985, and has narrated over one hundred films. A native of Toronto, Canada, he later moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio, and received his B.A. in English from Ohio State University. During World War II, Mr. Allen served as commanding officer of minesweeping vessels in the U.S. Navy. He is married to Sylvia Allen, an artist.


Mr. Allen’s replacement as announcer of the Met broadcasts will be announced at a later date.


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May 11, 2004

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