Letter: Where's Solti?

I have had a severe culture shock. The Independent on Sunday, which claims to be republican, devoted its main section to coverage of and comment on the Princess of Wales' funeral. Among the casualties was all but a small mention of the death of Sir Georg Solti. In any other circumstances this would surely have been front page news.

Strangely, given my indifference to the monarchy, I mean no disrespect to the late Princess. I joined thousands of other mourners queueing to pay our last respects and I, too, was moved to tears by her funeral. But tens of thousands die on the roads every year and her only claim to fame is that she married into - and was subsequently rejected by - an institution I regard as largely irrelevant. Solti, on the other hand, arguably succeeded Karajan as the world's greatest living conductor. Sadly the moral is, avoid dying in the shadow of such a high profile media event or be prepared to be ignored

Peter J Hunter

London N1