Parzzzifal
From Mr Matthew Richards Sir: If Michael Henderson really thinks that audiences in New York are so much worse than their London counterparts (Arts, 28 October), he should read his programme notes more carefully in both cities. London programmes routinely include prominent reminders that all mobile phones should be switched off for the duration of the perfor- mance. Unfortunately, these reminders are sometimes ignored. In New York, concert- goers turn off their phones without being asked to do so.
One sympathises with Mr Henderson's irritation at being stuck in front of a cougher at Alice Tully Hall; but it could be worse. During the last production that I attended at the Coliseum, Kundry's attempt to seduce Parsifal was marred by the sound of extremely loud snoring ema- nating from one of the boxes.
Matthew Richards
Jerome Levy Economics Institute, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
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