Critics Should Applaud Philharmonic’s Diversity

The masses have retreated, empty picnic baskets in hand. Wine bottles were tossed into the appropriate recyclable trash bins. Bread crumbs like strewn confetti have been swept from the stands.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic recently completed an exciting Hollywood Bowl summer season, underscored by two nights of innovative programming that embraced artistic diversity. We volunteer advisers to the Philharmonic, having had several weeks to think about and discuss Los Angeles Times coverage this summer, came to the consensus that Calendar critics are not very supportive of programs that are considered outside the Philharmonic mainstream.

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The Community Advisory Committee provides guidance for Philharmonic Assn. policies and programs to better serve the array of communities in Los Angeles. We seek to ensure that all residents have an opportunity to explore historically great music, recognizing the creative genius that can be found in music from all cultures. The Philharmonic has begun to paint a picture of change using bolder strokes of experimentation, yet Times writers do not seem too eager to acknowledge our endeavors.

One solid classical music critic panned a concert unique for its juxtaposition of classical and jazz music, later admitting that he simply did not understand it. At the opposite end of the spectrum, a critic condescendingly chastised program creators, and audience members, as lacking the sophistication to properly present, and to appreciate, Latin jazz, which was obviously the free-lance writer’s foremost area of expertise.

To the former we beckon: O critic, put down your opera glasses and ye shall see a bigger picture. And to the latter: Lighten up and take a peek above the rims of your Ray-Bans.

This summer Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted the Philharmonic, along with Latin Jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval as soloist, and Sandoval’s band. The program opened with John Adams’ “The Chairman Dances” and featured Armenian composer Alexander Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto; jazz selections composed by Ellington/Tizol/Mills, and Sandoval; and the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra as finale.

Martin Bernheimer lobbed his typeset tomato at the podium in his review of the Aug. 3 concert (“Salonen Returns, Worlds Collide,” Calendar, Aug. 5), calling the evening “bizarre” and a “wanton mingling of disparate genres . . . fusing sophistication with vulgarity.” Yet woven into the last few paragraphs of his article, Bernheimer writes: “The music-making, by the way, was excellent . . . . Sandoval and his friends seemed to do their loosely ornate thing very well indeed. Seemed? Jazz, it must be admitted, is a language that isn’t spoken or understood in this column.” Overlooked was the fact that Salonen is the first music director in a long time to promote contemporary and culturally inclusive music programs.

Enrique Lopetegui, in an otherwise thoughtful review, lambasted Hollywood Bowl patrons (“Was the Salsa Too Hot for Bowl Crowd?,” Calendar, Sept. 16) for not showing their appreciation--in the singular acceptable manner of dancing in the aisles--for a Latin jazz concert Sept. 14, part of the Jazz at the Bowl series. Lopetegui said the crowd “chatted, picnicked, laughed and held family discussions” during the concert featuring Eddie Palmieri, Ruben Blades and Tito Puente. He then blasted the Bowl administrative staff for imposing an 11 p.m. curfew.

True, the Bowl does not lend itself to a Latin jazz club atmosphere. In addition, the 11 p.m. curfew is imposed out of consideration for the Bowl’s neighboring residents. Yet despite the body-anchoring qualities of being seated in chairs facing front, often with fragile plates and wine glasses at foot, many Bowl patrons did trip the light fantastic that night. Many did remain stationary as well. Who is to say that the music, which was indeed of virtuoso level, was not relished or enjoyed appropriately by all?

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Being the “paper of record” for this city, The Times’ articles and columns are most meaningful when they encapsulate the context and significance of events that take place here. We encourage freedom of expression, and criticism. But we question what we perceive as an overall malaise in reporting fresh and appropriate directions within the older organizations of this city (the Philharmonic kicked off its 75th anniversary season on Oct. 7).

We maintain that the fun is in the sharing--that shining moment when everyone forgets whence they came, tosses rigidity to the wind and simply basks in the power of the music. When the Philharmonic presents concerts for children at the Music Center or travels about the city to churches, community centers and public schools to perform free neighborhood concerts, programs that receive no coverage in the newspapers, we couldn’t care less about those who clap between movements or whisper beatitudes to the people next to them.

Music is meant to be shared. It is our dream for the music of the Philharmonic to be shared by all Los Angeles residents. We welcome the expansion of your critical understanding. When we look at the potential of Los Angeles, we recognize the need to strengthen the relationship between the orchestra and our residents. Accuse us of sporting rose-colored glasses, but at least we allow ourselves to keep the ideals in sight.