14 JUNE 1986, Page 25

Magic loot

Sir: In your issue of 10 May, Rodney Milnes complains, not for the first time, about the inadequate government subsidy for opera in Britain. According to the March 1985 number of Opera (deputy editor, Rodney Milnes) the average subsidy for the 1983-84 season was 'just over £20 per seat', the average ticket-yield £9.78.

With a subsidy amounting, if I under- stand the figures, to twice the box-office take, how can Milnes say: 'What have we achieved in a short time and with no money?'?

C. T. Hatten Quintana 16, Madrid