Pro Prokofiev

When a person does not like a piece of music that I happen to like, I think “too bad for him.” That person is missing out on a pleasurable experience. But when a music critic writes that there is “nothing to relate to” in a piece of music that I really love [“The Russian Soul Poured Out,” by Chris Pasles, April 14], I am worried that some friend of mine might read this and believe it, thereby missing out on an opportunity for a wonderful musical experience.

It is hard to understand how he can state objectively that Prokofiev’s Second Symphony is “impersonal, distant and inhuman.” Didn’t he at least think it a bit strange that maestro Valery Gergiev chose to waste his and his orchestra’s time on this trash? Perhaps Pasles thought that the Prokofiev mafia was simply paying Gergiev off?

Leo Marcus

Santa Monica