How disappointing that in Fiona Maddocks's piece on Marin Alsop (7 September) there was no mention of the considerable achievements the conductor has already made in this country. She has not just emerged from the stock cupboard into the blinding glare of fame at the Last Night of the Proms. Concertgoers, especially here in the south-west of England had the privilege of hearing the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra reach new heights under her directorship between 2002 and 2008. She also worked extensively with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the City of London Sinfonietta, and became known to wider audiences through radio broadcasts. To be Gramophone magazine's Artist of the Year and receive the Royal Philharmonic Society's conductor's award, both in the same year, showed that her talents were far from unknown. The Last Night will have, hopefully, further developed her deserved reputation.
Janet Gould
Newton Abbot, Devon
• A few minutes ago we turned on the Proms. My wife gasped as a stunning young man walked on. Upon realising it was the conductor Vasily Petrenko, we wondered how the young women in the orchestra managed to concentrate.
Puff Addison
Oxford
• I am used to hearing sports commentators saying underestimate when they mean overestimate, but to hear Marin Alsop at the Last Night of the Proms opine that "You cannot underestimate the power of music" was disappointing.
Frank Fahy
King's Somborne, Hampshire
