In my travels on a Saturday afternoon I listen to the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts which have been on for forever. Opera on the radio is tough: no visuals, foreign languages, but they've been on forever. I usually just listen to the commentary by Margaret Juntwait and Ira Siff beforehand and between acts. Today, a singer turned the tables and interviewed Margaret, she makes you feel like calling her by her first name, and I learned that she and Ira do that deliberately, they want to appeal to a younger audience and so they're more familiar with each other and with the listening audience. It is not exactly like pre-game and halftime commentary to a football game, not at all, but it is certainly more friendly, more familiar, than any other classical music "DJ's" I've ever heard.

Ira seems like such a nice guy. During the interview we learned that Margaret had classical voice training, she said that mercifully the Met people had cut the segment of the interview where she sang for the singer-interviewer, Ira would have none of it afterward, telling Margaret that he has heard her sing and she has a beautiful voice. It was just a nice thing to say.

Ira's enthusiasm for opera is contagious, you can hear it in his voice, in the inflection, in his "mmm's" when Margaret, the host, is talking. He's just a nice, nice man. And so borrowing from another kind of football we offer a poznan today to Ira Siff.

Image: Doesn't he even look like a nice guy?