Anonymous calls

WHEN he wrote about “anonymous calls to The Times” in his review of last week’s Los Angeles Philharmonic program (“Salonen plays up the drama of Shostakovich’s ominous Sixth,” Oct. 18), Mark Swed reached a new low.

If the calls were anonymous, then how does he know that they came from orchestra members? And isn’t just about anyone -- especially in this city so full of aspiring actors -- perfectly capable of approximating a fairly decent Russian accent these days?

And even if the calls were legitimate, why does the reference to them belong in a review of a performance, anyway?

By mentioning them in his article, Swed clearly put himself on the same unethical low level with the cowards making such calls.

Mark Kashper

Sherman Oaks

Kashper is associate principal second violin of the Los Angeles Philharmonic