lewislazarus.es@xerox.ARPA (05/29/85)
The April concert was the second time I have seen Phillip Glass at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in L.A. Both concerts were enjoyable, if not as exciting as some performances of his that I have seen. The place was packed both times, and I think you may be underestimating how popular Glass is. The nice thing about "Koyaanisqatsi" is that after you have seen it a few times, you can ignore the sophmoric political content, and enjoy the excellent music and photography. As for the LA Times reviewer walking out of the Glass concert halfway through, I'm not surprized. When I was in music school, I once took a course on criticism from Martin Bernheimer the senior music critic of the Times. I hated it, and stopped attending halfway through. You can give Bernheimer points for some candor however, since he is the first to admit that rave reviews are a lot less interesting to read, and a lot less fun to write than scathing attacks. Bernheimer's editorial style is typically to attack anything new, especially if it happens in Los Angeles, while praising everything he sees in New York or San Francisco. While there is no denying the excellence of musical organizations in these cities, his approach is more than a little unfair, since his criticisms of new ventures have, for many years, helped to discourage funding for things like permanent opera, ballet, and new music ensembles here. Lewis Lazarus Los Angeles, CA