Did critic go too far or not far enough?

TIMES music critic Mark Swed is frequently too hard on our local music scene. I’ve often wondered if he and I heard the same concert or opera. For instance, I loved “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” which he disliked.

But, if anything, he was too kind to the music of “Nicholas and Alexandra” (“What Could Go Wrong?” Sept. 16). I think the music was not only boring and tedious but also bordered on being unsingable, devoid of any discernable melody.

Why did Placido Domingo choose to put on this dog in the first place?

Carol L. Kauper

San Gabriel

*

Swed’s review came across as a personal vendetta against Placido Domingo. I was entranced by this new production.

Where Swed saw “listless,” I saw restrained, which drew me more into the story more than any amount of dramatic chest beating. Where he heard a “thin score,” I heard a refreshing change from the tried, true and tired.

Los Angeles needs a musical shot in the arm. Esa-Pekka Salonen has been providing this with the musical diversity he has brought to the Philharmonic. I praise the Los Angeles Opera for daring to do this with its productions. If the musically staid have a problem with this, our city’s culture as a whole still benefits.

Rhonda Murotake

Marina del Rey