Going over Board
Sir: Of various points from which I dissent in Stephen Fay's account of affairs at the Royal Opera House (`Sticking up for Jere- my Isaacs', 12 September), I take issue on one: his cavalier denigration of the Board. They ought, he suggests, among other things, to raise money for the House. They do. It is not a coincidence that the Royal Opera House generates a higher propor- tion of its own income than any comparable house in Europe, and receives substantially more (£6 million) in private subvention than other British arts institution. That is achieved by sheer hard work.
The previous Chairman of the Royal Opera House Trust, Sir Alex Alexander, whom Fay risks defaming, by his own efforts raised £6.9 million in four years. To him, and to my other generous and hard- working colleagues on the Board, the House is, and always will be, hugely indebt- ed.
Jeremy Isaacs
General Director, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London WC2
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