CRITICS AND CRITICISM
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
Sm,—In case there should be any misapprehension with regard to the paragraph concerning this Opera House in your issue of May 10th, may I make two facts quite clear ?
Firstly ; The Spectator was not on our first night Press list last year, and there is therefore no question of " with- drawing " any privilege.
Secondly ; the suggestion that the Directors of the Opera House object to unfavourable criticism is hardly worthy of a serious newspaper like The Spectator. We have no objection to criticism of any kind, indeed we welcome it. This is merely a red herring drawn across the track.
Our point of view is that the writer of the article' which appeared in your issue of April 5th, before the beginning of our Season, cannot be in a state of mind to write useful criticism of our performances, whether favourable or un- favourable.—Yours faithfully,
Royal Opera House, GEOFFREY TOYE, Covent Garden, London, W.C.2. Managing Director.
[No question of first-nights has been raised ; weekly papers are commonly not on first-night lists. For the rest, Mr. Toye's last paragraph seems an adequate comment on the one which precedes it. He welcomes criticism, but not a particular critic's criticism.—En. The Spectator.]
Previous page
