13 MAY 2006, Page 26

Third degree at JFK

From Bill Troop

Sir: Peter Phillips, in his article on the problems musicians face when visiting the United States, doesn’t know the half of it (Arts, 6 May). When Krystian Zimerman, who travels with his piano, came through JFK a few weeks ago, his Steinway was seized as a suspected terrorist device and held for five days before it was returned with several keys broken. Many decades before, Frank Sinatra’s son was trying his luck as a crooner. When he was kidnapped, Oscar Levant remarked that it must have been done by music critics. One doubts, however, that the officials who interfered with Zimerman’s instrument were musically inclined.

Bill Troop

Berkeley, California, USA