Radio Opera Drops F-Bomb

Classical radio station WQXR (105.9 FM) is unhappy and embarrassed that the f-word went on air Saturday afternoon during a broadcast of the opera "Nixon In China."

According to David Hinckley at nydailynews.com, during Act III of the 1987 composition, performed live as part of the station's weekly Metropolitan Opera series, the character playing Chairman Mao's wife says, "We'll teach these m-f-ers how to dance."

"WQXR regrets that an obscenity was not cut from the air during the live broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera of the production 'Nixon in China,'" a station spokeswoman said yesterday.

WQXR, like other members of the WNYC public radio family, routinely bleeps obscenities. A source familiar with the broadcast suggested this one may have caught the station off-guard, since obscenity is rarely an issue on opera broadcasts.

The slip set off a modest stir among listeners, though the more animated online discussion concerned the musical quality of the John Adams opera.

It is unlikely the station will face any sanctions for the slip. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates content, does not initiate action unless it receives complaints from listeners.

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