RICHPIK

Operatically inclined radio listeners within reach of New York’s WQXR know the voice and the wisdom of George Jellinek. For years, especially on his program called “The Vocal Scene,” he has expounded on the great voices of our time, without indulging in the kind of hysterical jabberwock that some opera fanatics assume as their lingua franca. Among his other accomplishments, jellinek wrote the first major biography of Maria Callas; it still stands up.Now Jellinek goes nationwide, by means of a new weekly radio series, “Texaco/Metropolitan Opera: Echoes from the Last 50 Years,” which starts Saturday, September 1 on KUSC-FM at 9:30 a.m., honoring Texaco’s 50-year sponsoship of the Met broadcasts. Peter Allen, host of those broadcasts, will be the host, but the words and the wisdom will be Jellinek’s own. First: a survey of “Aida” performances from the Met, with rare recordings (some from broadcast tapes) as far back as Giovanni Martinelli and as up-to-date as Aprile Millo. — ALAN RICH