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As It Happens

Opera critic speaks out after National Post spikes review

The National Post yanked Arthur Kaptainis' most recent review from the paper's website, after the Canadian Opera Company complained. The freelance critic calls the move "beyond the pale."
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Freelance critic Arthur Kaptainis quit The National Post after the paper pulled his online review of a recent Canadian Opera Company's production. (Montreal Gazette/COC)
As It Happens7:55Opera critic speaks out after National Post spikes review

It's a story with the kind of plot line that a critic might relish. But freelance writer Arthur Kaptainis, who is at the centre of the drama, is not enjoying the action.

Kaptainis has quit his gig at The National Post, after an editor pulled his latest review.

"[It] is completely beyond the pale," the freelancer tells As It Happens host Carol Off. "I guess I have no right to consider myself anything but an ex-critic of The National Post as we speak."

The opera in question was the Canadian Opera Company production of "Maometto II." (COC)

Kaptainis' review of the Canadian Opera Company's "Maometto II" was mixed. The company's response to it was not. After the review appeared online May 3 in The National Post, the opera's media relations manager, Jennifer Pugsley, wrote to Post arts editor Dustin Parkes to complain.

It's pretty clear the Canadian Opera Company looks very closely at my reviews to find reasons to object to them.- Arthur Kaptainis, freelance critic

"I have to confess that Arthur's reviews continue to baffle many of us at the COC," she writes. "His opinion is his opinion, and he's entitled to it, all we ask for from our critics is a fair and open-minded consideration of what we present on our stage. It's becoming more and more challenging to see that kind of thoughtfulness in his reviews."

Arthur Kaptainis's review of "Maometto II" appeared on The National Post's website on May 3, 2016. (COC)

Pugsley requested corrections for two errors: a mistake in a photo credit and a phrase where Kaptainis calls a belly dancer a ballerina.

"To me, it's pure hair-splitting," says Kaptainis. "It's pretty clear the Canadian Opera Company looks very closely at my reviews to find reasons to object to them."

Parkes, it seems, didn't see it that way. He pulled the online review from The Post's web site without telling Kaptainis. On Tuesday, after the controversy went public, the paper put an edited version of the piece back up on its site.

The COC has released a statement about the whole affair, pointing out it did not ask for the review to be removed. You can read it here. 

Kaptainis says he has not spoken with Parkes at The National Post since the incident.

He believes the controversy reflects the current state of criticism in Canadian writing.

"This is a sad comment. My fellow critics are feeling this pressure everywhere. There's more of an emphasis on articles written in advance to promote a performance rather than an article written afterwards," he says. "[It's] really a very serious deficit in our cultural life if we no longer have people speaking thoughtfully and creating a forum for discussion."

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