MARTIN AND PHIL (THE L.A. PHILHARMONIC, THAT IS)

Just an overdue note to thank Martin Bernheimer for years of service to music in Los Angeles.

True, he writes less than ecstatic reviews of 90% of the events he attends. But then 90% are not worth the knee-jerk standing ovations that local audiences insist upon.

But he consistently give praise when it’s deserved--especially, I notice, to the hopeful, the hard-working, and those just beyond the edge of the follow-spot on the fat lady. That praise is much appreciated.

As for the Bernheimer Tropes, which receive intermittent scorn on the Letters Page, I too confess that my pulse is no longer quickened by “hemisemidemiquaver,” “plastic lotus,” and six-deck adjectival oxymorons.

But anyone who can still come up with a phrase like “gallon jug contralto” is a heavy hitter (“Poignant Revival of ‘Billy Budd’ in S.F.,” Nov. 25).

JIM STINSON

Pasadena