Dull Dvorak

While Chris Pasles correctly states that pairing music by Brahms and Dvorak makes sense, pairing Dvorak’s Violin Concerto with anything makes bad sense (“Midori Soars; Philharmonic Merely Glides,” Feb. 21).

I do not agree with Pasles that it was conductor David Zinman’s fault that the concerto was a flop when he conducted it with the L.A. Philharmonic. It was a flop when it was written, an uninspiring piece of music that even the leading violinist who helped Dvorak write it refused to play when it debuted. Zinman can’t be blamed for failing to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

The concerto is so dull that for the first time in the more than 45 years I have been attending concerts, I dozed off, as did several around me, despite the fact that I came to hear Midori play. Now I know why I could not find the concerto in my extensive library of music. Perhaps it is including duds like this on programs that is driving people away from the Philharmonic in droves.

JACK ALLEN

Pacific Palisades