ANDRE’S PASSION

In his review of Andre Previn’s third concert with the L.A. Philharmonic, Martin Bernheimer writes that Previn “plays Tchaikovsky as if it were Mozart” (“Andre Previn Finally Roasts a Chestnut,” Oct. 26).

I quite agree. Perhaps it would be better, however, if he played Tchaikovsky as if it were Tchaikovsky.

While it is still too early to make a definitive judgment, at this point it appears that our new maestro’s “sane, civil, careful approach” reduces the music to a bland intellectual exercise. In his apparent effort to avoid the drama, theatricality or sentiment of his predecessors, Previn succeeds in making the music clear and precise, but lacking in passion.

ROBERT MARKS

Los Angeles