Grand Opera in Britain Since the British people have proved
capable of becom- ing more intelligent, more tolerant, less bourgeois and better-looking, Sir Thomas Beecham sees no reason why they should not be capable of developing operatic singers. We have good orchestras, good choral singing, good music schools, but no national opera ; and whilst 99 out of 100 singers in the world are opera singers, we in this country have nothing to offer to native operatic talent. We shall never have many great English operas, nor many English singers capable of taking part in them, until we have a National Opera House giving performances during the greater part of the year. Nor can we ever hope to have that—unless some multi-millionaire takes it into his head to create an endowment fund—except by State aid worthy of a civilized country. Britain stands in inglorious isolation as a country deeming itself civilized, whose Government thinks it no part of its duties to assist either music or drama. Our commerce is protected by a Navy. A very small subsidy to a National Opera House and a National Theatre is necessary to make music and drama safe.
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