“Opera-free airwaves sorrowful,” indeed, as Tom Weber put it so eloquently in his column of Dec. 6. We in Castine and most of the state south of us are fortunate. We receive the Metropolitan Opera on a strong signal from WBQX in Rockland, as do those Mainers who also receive WBACH’s signal from Rockland and Kennebunk.

I wonder if the administrators at Maine Public Radio realize that by default, they have created another “Two Maines,” north and south, this time among loyal opera fans. However, in doing so, they have also cut off the opera signal to Bangor, Maine’s most important city north of Portland, and Orono, site of the flagship campus of the University of Maine System, as well as some smaller area colleges.

This, of course, leaves out the UMaine campuses at Machias, Presque Isle and Fort Kent. Not only is this a no-brainer, it is also a disgrace. With Met signals now reaching Ecuador, Uruguay and Japan, it almost seems as if northern Maine is paying the price for their good fortune.

And this was an ambush: The December issue of Opera News routinely listed the entire MPR network as carrying the Saturday live Metropolitan Opera broad- casts in the new broadcast season. Would that this were prophecy.

Donald G. Hoople

Castine