CLASSICAL CONUNDRUM

As someone who has worked both in the pop and classical worlds, I found Mark Swed’s discussion of classical radio fascinating if a bit frustrating (“Classical Gasp,” Dec. 8).

While KUSC’s “experiment” offended the “purists” (all five of them), there is some legitimacy in the station’s recently abandoned approach. Classical music, if it is to remain a viable art form, must somehow embrace, not avoid, the cultural milieu that has appeared in this age of the Internet and globalization. It may be blasphemous to say, but Kurt Cobain’s music probably has as much to contribute to our continuing cultural dialogue as does the music of Beethoven, still astounding after almost 200 years.

Most music lovers in my age group seek out all kinds of music, from Beethoven to Coltrane to Nirvana to Ruben Blades and so on. Any recorded or live performance can be inspiring, exciting, stimulating or simply dreadful, depending not only upon the prowess of the players involved, but more so on the passion, energy and heart that they can bring to their performances.

If you’ll excuse me now, my favorite recording of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, played passionately and intelligently by our own Los Angeles Philharmonic with Esa-Pekka Salonen, has just ended and I’m about to throw on Soundgarden’s latest CD--both recordings share equal prominence in my own, perhaps twisted, musical world.

STEVE D’AMICO

Los Angeles

*

As humanity approaches the coming millennium, it is absurd that classical music programmers like KUSC’s Steve Lama and Jim Svejda are trying to build a bridge to the 19th century.

Former general manager Wallace Smith may have failed at his attempt to create a new model for arts radio at KUSC, but anyone who has hopes for the future of classical music on the radio and elsewhere must admit that Smith is right to worry about where the next generation of listeners will come from.

KUSC has no more business shirking its responsibility to help music, the arts and listeners evolve than USC’s physics department has stopping instruction beyond the discoveries of Isaac Newton. By rejecting out of hand any attempts to reach new listeners, KUSC is ultimately dooming the music it professes to champion.

MATTHEW G. WRIGHT

Altadena

*

The parallels between the circumstances that are driving classical music off the air and the current plight of the adult album alternative format at KSCA-FM (101.9) are extremely striking. The “corporatization” of the airwaves is eliminating variety at many spots on the dial, not just the classical ones.

JIM PHELAN

Los Angeles

*

Lee De Forest and Guglielmo Marconi were scandalized at the very idea of commercial radio. Broadcasting must be seen as they saw it, as informational, educational, cultural. Until then, the country will continue to get the radio stations it deserves.

REV. THEODORE C. LEY

Gardena