Founded by 1he Earl of Harewood Edi1or 1953-86 Harold Rosemhal, OBE

April 1988 Vol 39 No 4

Edi!Or

Max Lopperr Associale Ediwr

Alan Blyth, Elizabeth Forbes, Arthur Jacobs , EdiFOrial Board William Mann, Charles Osborne, Andrew Porter,

Desmond Shawe-Taylor , John Warrack oel Goodwin Overseas

News Edilor

Deidre Tilley Personal Assislanl

10 !he Edi1or la Moumgrove Road, London N5 2LU Editorial Offices

Always wrong by the Editor 401

The key to the future: a new era at Covent Garden 402

Readers' Letters 411

Obituary 418

'The purpose of playing' by N icholas Hytner 419

In the News 423

The case of 'Beatrice Cenci' by Paul Banks 426

Book Reviews 432

Our Critics Abroad: reports from Ital y, America, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Monaco, Netherlands,

Switzerland 436

COM! G EVENTS-SUPPLEMENT

including plans for Covent Garden, ENO, WNO, Scottish

Opera, New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh , Seattle, Melbourne, Berlin; Festivals 1988; 'We hear that .. .

Record Reviews

44 1-456 456

British Opera Diary, including reviews of 'Orfeo ed Euridice ' at Covent Garden and Cambridge; 'Billy Budd',

'Madama Butterfly' and 'Orpheus in the Underworld' at the Coliseum; Scottish Opera's 'Cosi fan tutte'; Opera 80's

'Seraglio' and 'Carmen'; 'Jenufa' and 'Un ballo in maschera' at Covent Garden

Student Performance Classified Advertisements

489 506 512

Front cover : (I. to r.) Jeremy Isaacs, Bernard Haitink and

Paul Findlay: respectively General Director designate , Music Director of the Royal Opera, and Opera Director at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden .

(photo: Reg Wilson)