Reviewing the Reviewers

I read Ernesto Lechner’s review of the Afro-Cuban All-Stars concert at UCLA’s Royce Hall and wondered why he wrote such a negative and uninformed piece (“Afro-Cubans Leave Unique Sound at Home,” April 3). As a music programmer on KPFK-FM (90.7) and as someone who attended the concert, I have to respond with a different opinion.

Lechner’s contention that the All-Stars are a spinoff from the Buena Vista Social Club and that they’re trying to mimic their sound is completely off the mark. Just listen to their recordings and compare. It’s a different sound and instrumentation. The Afro-Cuban All-Stars are re-creating the big band sound of the ‘50s, and in their latest recording, “Distinto, Diferente,” they add elements of the current Cuban music.

Lechner writes that the audience “reacted with exaggerated fervor” during the show. I certainly did not see anyone trying to pretend or exaggerate having fun in a concert that was pure enjoyment, from beginning to end. My wife and I were dancing in the aisles and we saw hundreds of people doing the same thing. Can that be considered hype, or was the audience truly moved by an ensemble of very good musicians?

BETTO ARCOS

Pacifica Radio

North Hollywood

*

F. Kathleen Foley’s review of “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” says that Molly Brown and her husband, Johnny Brown, struck it rich in “the Colorado gold fields” (“ ‘Molly Brown’ Has Trouble Keeping Good Fun Afloat,” April 3). Have they added an alchemist to the cast of “Molly Brown”? The Brown fortune was made in silver, not gold.

ROBERT P. JOHNSON

Panorama City

*

I was sorry to read Jennifer Fisher’s review (“Flashy Spectacle ‘Burn the Floor’ Has Trouble Catching Fire,” March 31). We see so little that touches the heart, I feel some mention should, at least, be made of the overwhelmingly enthusiastic audience reaction to this wonderful show. Afterward, I felt the entire audience wanted to dance its way to the parking lot.

I suggest you send someone next time with the ability to experience beauty when it is presented.

BARBARA RUSH

Beverly Hills

*

I am truly appalled and disappointed that for the past two concerts of the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra you have chosen to send no reviewer to this magnificent musical group. The orchestra is probably L.A.’s best-kept secret, in no small part thanks to you.

We were enthralled by the concert Saturday evening, especially because of the performances of the two soloists, Robert Frear playing the Haydn Trumpet Concerto and Aimee Kreston and her exquisite violin rendition of “The Lark Ascending” by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

DORIS CHILDS

Los Angeles