Further, Schonberg remarked favorably on the "air of freshness and experimentation that contrasts vividly with the dull, tried and true, tired professionalism in other opera houses one could mention."

The company named Speight Jenkins as its next general director in December 1982, an unusual appointment in that Jenkins did not have prior administrative experience with arts organisations prior to his appointment. Jenkins formally took up the post with the 1983-1984 season, during which the company ran its first-ever fiscal deficit. Early