Old Moore's Quack-quack
I had not expected to revert to the matter of Covent Garden or to the antics of its chairman, Lord Drogheda (born Garrett Moore, nicknamed Donald Duck). Quite against my inclination I am forced to do so: for some sort of explanation is owed to our readers for the disappearance from our arts columns, as of now, of Miss Gillian Wid- dicombe and Mr Clement Crisp who have been, respectively, our music and ballet reviewers.
They both review for the Financial Times, of which Lord Drogheda is also managing director. He is known to take a very active interest in that excellent newspaper's ad- mirable arts pages.
Now when I quoted last month Lord Goodman writing in his introduction to the Arts Council report 'whatever the political faith of the Government administration there is an area of activity that must wither and die without help from the public purse', I commented, 'Let Covent Garden and Sadler's Wells die for a start'. My remarks greatly angered Lord Drogheda who, so I gather, todk it upon himself to suggest to Miss Widdicombe and Mr Crisp that it might be better if they ceased writing for the SPEC- TAToR. Lord Drogheda also wrote a letter to this office asking whether the views expressed in the Notebook 'represented a fundamental change of editorial policy or Whether we can take it that it was no more than a temporary lapse'. The co-signatory of Drogheda's letter was Mr David McKenna, professional railwayman and chairman of Sadler's Wells Opera. In their letter they noted that the SPECTATOR 'has consistently devoted a great deal of valuable critical attention' to opera and ballet. I subsequently replied that the SPECTATOR would continue to devote such at- tention to the performances of Covent Garden and of Sadler's Wells. Despite my assurances that 'no funda- mental change of editorial policy was represented by my remarks', and despite the SPECTATOR happily printing an article by Miss Widdicombe attacking my views, I kept hearing that so annoyed had Lord Drogheda become that he was determined to persuade Miss. Widdicombe and Mr Crisp to sever their connections with the SPECTATOR, despite that neither of them had any wish to so do.
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