Cultural client
Sir: As general manager of one of the 'cultural clients of the Arts Council', referred to in 'The Spec- tator's Notebook' (13 February), may I raise two points arising from his gleeful (?) underlinings of the Comptroller and Auditor-General's criticisms of the Arts Council.
1. It is a declared policy of the Government to encourage the arts, and this must imply high standards in the performing arts. How can our orchestras secure the services of international conductors and soloists, who must be booked one, two, three or even four years ahead, if, in committing themselves so far ahead, they can expect not even a 'moral undertaking' from the Arts Council?
2. If they do not aim at the highest quality then they are in- deed wasting government money. What is more, they would put at risk the enormous indirect earnings from overseas visitors attracted to Great Britain not only by our shops, but also by our opera, theatre and orchestras, not to men- tion direct Treasury income of millions in purchase tax from the music industry.
Can it be that Spectator takes more pleasure in stirring some pol- itical personality porridge of his own rather than concern with the further development of the arts in Britain, which is one of the real success stories of the decade and in which the Arts Council has played a very creditable part? What is needed now is more forward commitment, not less, just, as much in the arts as in any industrial or commercial enterprise.
Gerald McDonald General Manager, New Philhar- monia Orchestra, 61 Carey Street, London wc2
Previous page
