Obscure Rodgers

John Henken, in his Aug. 28 review of the Hollywood Bowl debut of mezzo Frederica von Stade, noted that the crowd of more than 10,000 was “curiously passive.” The same attitude was present the next evening when the program was repeated.

I think the audience was bored with the selections, except for a few familiar standbys.

Someone seems to have searched the archives for composer Richard Rodgers’ most obscure tunes, apparently forgetting that there are good reasons why certain songs are popular and others are not. Today’s audience didn’t like those selections any better than the original theatergoers did decades ago.

LESLIE IRENE RICE, Ontario