Playing Mozart too fast

SIR – Arthur WJG Ord-hume (Letters, October 8) is right about the dangers of speeding up music – a point especially relevant to the work of Mozart.

Compare The Marriage of Figaro’s overture played at breakneck speed with a slower performance where phrasing and articulation are given greater emphasis, such as one conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham.

Paradoxically, Sir Thomas was often accused of conducting music too fast, but when timed was actually slower. The apparent haste was in fact just the dynamic and rhythmically vibrant playing of his orchestra. Then again, he was also known to speed up towards the end of a concert if it was getting close to his last train home.

Paul Bendit

Arlington, East Sussex