LETTERS Gerald in the Garden
Sir: In the last Parliament a handful of us on the National Heritage Select Committee were able to restrain the wilder flights of fantasy of our chairman, Gerald Kaufman — for example, his constant wish to priva- tise the BBC.
Not so in this Parliament. The successor Culture, Media and Sport Committee is largely manned by novices who have fallen for one of Kaufinan's obsessions: an under- dog's dislike of the dash and splendour that characterise great international opera houses, almost all of them much more heavily dependent on public subsidy than the Royal Opera House.
This all comes out in Gerald's article, 'Covent Garden and me' (6 December). It is a sad mixture of arrogance in claiming 'full credit' for changing the ways of the ROH and anger at not being more loved and cherished as he moved, over the years, from the gods to the stalls.
The Select Committee have claimed the scalp of Lord Chadlington, but what have they done to keep up the morale and enthusiasm of the corps de ballet, the cho- rus, the orchestra, the staff, the patrons and the Friends of the ROH, who are all work- ing to make a huge success of a reborn House? Precisely nothing. Of course, public subsidy will be needed for the new Covent Garden, probably in greater measure than before. The art will lie in creating an acceptable musical enterprise that attracts the loving support of even more people than now.
As for Gerald, he might more easily find the welcome mat that he craves if he under- studies Cavaradossi rather than Scarpia. Renton of Mount Harty
Mount Harry House, Offham, Lewes, East Sussex
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