Dame Ethel Smyth (Letters, 13 March) always attracts the label “formidable”.The 1909 first night of her opera The Wreckers was attended at Covent Garden by no less than King Edward VII. Thomas Beecham, who conducted, said that he later pressed the King’s private secretary to say if his majesty had enjoyed the evening. The aide replied: “At one point his majesty woke up and said: ‘Fritz, that’s the fourth time this infernal row has roused me’.”
Keith Salway
Lechlade, Gloucestershire
• I once had the pleasure of dining with Daniel Barenboim at the house of a mutual friend. After an enjoyable and relaxing evening, as we said our goodbyes he said to me: “Thank you for not calling me ‘maestro’.” To this day I don’t know whether that was an expression of gratitude or a rebuke.
Karl Sabbagh
Newbold on Stour, Warwickshire
• You report that “within two to three years” we shall be able to take advantage of an internet gizmo which will tell us when our current tube of toothpaste needs replacing (12 March). Your more impatient readers may be interested to know that there are already two useful gadgets which will give you exactly this information. They are reliable (for most of us), readily available at any time, easy to use, and free. They are called “eyes”.
Robert Nelson
London
• You suggest that the journalist AA GIll should be consulted about Clarkson’s future (Media, 16 March). Gill once wrote that Clarkson was more intelligent than he looked, which reminded me of Mark Twain’s observation that Wagner’s music was much better than it sounded.
Dr Allan Dodds
Nottingham
• My husband and a friend have both been graded as “a pleasant gentleman” (Letters, 16 March) by unconnected parts of the NHS in referral letters. I think it is code for: “This one won’t give you any trouble.”
Amanda Norrie
London
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