LETTERS.(Letter to the Editor)

OPEN EARS

* Contrary to Bill Zakariasen's letter [February], there are many great singers today who do not sound at all like each other. How could anyone mistake Jane Eaglen for Renee Fleming? Or Thomas Hampson for Bryn Terfel? Or Roberto Alagna for Ben Heppner? These and many other singers today have individual timbres and personalities that are as instantly recognizable as any of the great singers from the past.

The notion that "all orchestras today sound like Sawallisch's Philadelphia orchestra" is equally false. To question the great Metropolitan Opera orchestra's individuality misses the point. A feature of its playing is its ability to adapt itself like a chameleon to different composers, whether Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner or whomever. Enough nostalgia. Why can't people realize that the golden age is now?

Robert Berger Levittown, NY

CULTURAL BIAS: POINT AND COUNTERPOINT

Your bias is showing! [Viewpoint, March] It is not the province of the Attorney General to make a cultural statement on opera versus Garth Brooks.

Many of my friends, who are supporters of the Met, Los Angeles Opera, Long Beach Opera and San Diego Opera, also support John Ashcroft. I do not believe that OPERA NEWS ever published an editorial on Janet Reno's "cultural" views while she was Attorney General for eight years!