One's memories of so large an international festival are bound to be mixed; while there were few classical performances of festival perfection to be heard, and little superior contemporary music to alleviate otherwise routine orchestral programmes, an occasional guest artist gave exceptional pleasure (Fischer-Dieskau, Schwarzkopf, Martinon), and one left Holland with renewed admiration for the Concertgebouw orchestra and with a somewhat broader knowledge of the work of contemporary Dutch composers. It was in the operatic field that the festival proved to be most enterprising and enlightened. The schedule included Falla's rarely performed La Vida Breve and El Retablo de Maese Pedro, Otello (under Krips), Der Freischütz (Elmendorff), Figaro (Krips), and the Essen production of Alban Berg's second, last and incomplete opera, Lulu. The performances of Freischütz and Figaro gave one an opportunity to assess the achievements of Holland's very youthful national opera, “De Nederlandsche Opera,” a company more recently founded than our own Covent Garden. While neither production was up to true festival standards (though Figaro was a considerable improvement on Freischütz), one was left with an impression of substantial promise for the future.