20 JULY 1996, Page 25

Sacrificial swap

Sir: Poor darling Rupert (Arts, 6 July). How he has suffered for his pleasure! He complains that, as your opera critic, he was seated in row H of the Covent Garden stalls `bang in the heart of sponsor territory'.

We have news for him. The seats for the Daily Telegraph, whose critic he has now become, are in . . . row H of the stalls. Per- haps a 'real opera lover' who can only afford seats in the amphitheatre would care to make the ultimate sacrifice and swap his tick- ets for Rupert's complimentary stalls ones? Helen Anderson

The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, London WC2