Last night I attended the Utah Symphony's performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. I am a pianist and have played this piece before, so I know it well. Then, this morning, I read Edward Reichel's review of the concert. He made only one reference to Vladimir Feltsman's performance, saying that it was "riveting." This was then followed by several paragraphs of background information on the piece.

I wonder if Reichel even attended the event. Feltsman's performance was a disaster. His opening passage was riddled with mistakes, as were nearly all of the difficult sections of the piece. At one point, he even broke off entirely, turned to the audience and smiled sheepishly. He was unsettlingly out of sync with the orchestra during the central dance section, and his entire performance lacked power and intensity. Then the audience, who apparently hadn't been listening either, gave him an embarrassing standing ovation.The Deseret News music staff needs a splash of reality; not every performance by the Utah Symphony is a good one, yet I have never read a negative review in the newspaper. A review of a performance last Christmas by the American West Symphony, discussed three movements of Romeo and Juliet that were not even performed. Try to find a reviewer who knows what he is talking about.

David Anderson

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Salt Lake City

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