Calendar Letters to the Editor Sunday, February 19

A legend of L.A. Phil

Regarding Mark Swed’s column “What’s Behind Move to N.Y.?” [Feb. 8]: The story of Gustavo Dudamel in Los Angeles is incomplete with out crediting its writer.

Ernest Fleischmann was managing director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 30 years, throughout which, amongst many different achievements, he employed Carlo Maria Giulini as music director, oversaw the transformation of the Hollywood Bowl’s programming, acoustics and structure, he commissioned Frank Gehry to construct Disney Hall, and introduced in Esa-Pekka Salonen to finish the shaping of the Philharmonic right into a world-class orchestra.

Fleischmann first found the astonishing skills of Gustavo Dudamel when, in 2004, he and Salonen served on the jury of the inaugural Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition, received by Dudamel at age 23. Mark Swed has credited Fleischmann with having “transformed a provincial second-rank orchestra into one of the world’s best.”

Fleischmann had the imaginative and prescient. He made all of it occur.

Oh, and he commissioned my firm to develop the technique that modified the identify of the orchestra from the Los Angeles Philharmonic to the L.A. Phil, which opened the doorways to an L.A. viewers of music lovers who didn’t should put on fancy garments to get pleasure from nice music.

Bob Klein

Los Angeles

Rihanna’s set record miss

Regarding Mary McNamara’s column “Rihanna Pulls Off an Amazing Surprise” [Feb. 14]: While I’m an enormous Rihanna fan, I used to be disillusioned by each the chosen songs she sang (or lip-synced) and the futuristic choreography carried out on the Super Bowl.

I like so lots of the songs she has recorded, however all she needed to do was sing ”Love on the Brain,” and I might have been comfortable.

Regardless, congratulations to her on her wonderful shock!

Isadora Johnson

Seal Beach

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Regarding [“He Took Us There With His Genius Songs,” Diane Warren’s appreciation of Burt Bacharach [Feb. 13]: The juxtaposition of your tales on the Burt Bacharach appreciation and Rihanna’s Super Bowl set provided up a jarring distinction.

The “Alfie” lyrics of “kind fools” and “the golden rule” with Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money.”

What has occurred to us?

Alan B. Posner

Santa Barbara

Justice for Diana Ross

I discovered Mikael Wood’s suggestion that after dropping album of the 12 months once more that Beyoncé ought to boycott [“Beyoncé Should Boycott Grammys,” Feb. 7] somewhat ridiculous.

The Grammys have gone out of their method to award her — 32 Grammys — which is great for her.

My takeaway from this 12 months’s broadcast is one other travesty. The legend Diana Ross — with 18 lovely No. 1 songs to her credit score (12 as lead singer of the Supremes after which six as a solo artist) — has by no means received a single Grammy. Yes, they gave her an honorary award for her solo work prior to now and one other honorary Grammy this 12 months for the Supremes — although the present didn’t even announce that on TV.

Diana Ross paved the best way for thus many others along with her unimaginable expertise. Frankly, Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child exist as a result of Diana Ross — first with the Supremes after which on her personal — blazed the path for everybody to comply with.

If anybody deserves 32 Grammys, it’s Diana Ross. But even when the voters this 12 months didn’t select to award “Thank You” — one of the crucial lovely and private albums of her profession — her standing as icon is safe.

Lawrence Stern

Los Angeles

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With all due respect to the very proficient Beyoncé, the true injustice right here is the truth that famous person Diana Ross has by no means received a Grammy.

Peter David Harris

Los Angeles

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The Grammy Award for album of the 12 months dates again to 1959 when Henry Mancini received it. It is an award as previous as me. In all these years, it has been given to African American ladies twice, Whitney Houston and Lauryn Hill. It has been given to African American males eight instances by my rely, and three of these awards went to Stevie Wonder.

I feel that Harry Styles might have been improper that folks like him don’t win this prize.

Harrison Robinson

San Clemente

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It’s previous time for the Grammys to institute a brand new award class: Ok-Pop.

There is not any scarcity of proficient Ok-Pop artists and teams, it’s a globally fashionable style, and with a devoted class, the Grammys can lastly work out easy methods to acknowledge these great artists for the skills that they’re.

Too late for BTS, who’ve gotten snubbed 12 months after 12 months, however not too late for Ok-Pop followers, who’ve been snubbed together with their favourite teams.

Jan McCarthy

Keswick

Episode was nice for ‘Us’

Regarding: “Key to All of ‘Last of Us’” [Jan. 31]: I’m fairly keen on the HBO sequence “The Last of Us,” starring the beautiful Pedro Pascal. Then got here the episode “Long Long Time,” which featured Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett in a gents’s pas de deux of complexity, tenderness and craft.

It was a wonderful pearl set so unexpectedly in a tough panorama of dying and despair, with the attractive motif of Linda Ronstadt’s “Love Will Abide” sustaining it.

Thanks to HBO, the forged, the writers and producers for having the heart to do that so creatively and tastefully.

Megan Willis

San Pedro

‘All you have to do is act naturally’

I used to be a looping/ADR editor in TV and movement footage for years and labored with many actors. I all the time admired those that have been, as Charles McNulty stated in his column, “natural” [“A Natural at What He Does,” Feb. 5]. Those actors have been few and much between.

I’m reminded of a dialog between Spencer Tracy and a younger actor. The actor stated, “Mr. Tracy, I’m an actor too. I love acting.”

Tracy replied, “That’s wonderful, son, simply don’t let anyone catch you doing it.“

Richard Friedman

Santa Monica