synchronicity.

Anyone who knows me knows that I really dig Carl Jung. I recently finished Man and His Symbols, a book he wrote along with a handful of his proteges. It was meant to be less for the scholar and more for the layperson, and it's extremely readable. Also--illustrated! It's all about dream interpretation, how so many symbols in our dreams and culture are part of our collective unconscious. It was his last major work before his death.

What I dig so much about Jung is that he had an open mind toward the mystical. He applied principles of logic to explain seemingly psychic events. Like synchronicity. He came up with that one.

I had a couple synchronous happenings last week. I'd like to tell you about them.

So, Friday I had lunch at Sage and popped in at Stories in Echo Park. Unusually satisfying vegan food and buying too many books--it's becoming a habit. I picked up a copy of Stamboul Train: An Entertainment by Graham Greene.

I guess I missed the key word in the title, because when I asked the manager if he'd read it, he replied, "uh no, it's an entertainment." Oh. Well. It's still Graham Greene, so I trust it's amazing. Plus, I'm always in search of a good, literary mystery/thriller.

After reading The Power and the Glory. Definitely not an entertainment. A crazy intense book. In a nutshell, I'd say it's about the death of God in the 20th century. That sounds vague and pretentious. Let me try again.

It's the story of a "whiskey priest," a shabby little man, who suddenly find himself on the run in a Mexican state that is executing all Catholic priests. The priest is deeply flawed, a drunk and an illegitimate father of a young girl, neither a hero nor a martyr. But in his reluctant journey for survival, he becomes both. It was a difficult story to grasp at first, but harrowing and powerful (pun, sorry) by the end.

But back to my day of synchronicity. In the morning I heard Britten's Simple Symphony and the theme from Murder on the Orient Express on KUSC while driving to work.

 
I love Britten, and I was infatuated with Agatha Christie as a tween. It's an obsession that runs in the family, as my sister named her daughter "Agatha."

I have a vivid memory of reading Orient Express, because the ending blew my 12-year-old mind. I didn't even know what the author did with it was possible. Seriously, it was one of the first times a book freaked me out. Of course, I can't tell you what happened.

 
But the book doesn't have much to do with Istanbul, other than taking place on its most famous train.

So I arrive at work, and what's the first e-mail in my inbox? An excellent groupon for a trip to Istanbul. And guess what? I am going for it! When the universe throws me a little sign, I perk up my ears and whip out my credit card out. The city formerly known as Constantinople--here I come!



I've had Istanbul on the brain for a little while now, ever since I watched the film The International, over the holidays. It's not a bad little movie, an intelligent sleeper thriller with a breathtaking shootout set in the Guggenheim Museum. The film's climax takes place in Istanbul.

Clive Owen, stomping around the roofs of Istanbul.

Another fond memory I have is reading Orham Parmuk's Snow all through a blazingly hot, 100+ degree Labor Day weekend, with the air conditioner blasting and the blinds shut. I don't know if it necessarily cooled me down, but it was a great book.

And, of course, these will be must-reads for my trip.

That afternoon, I discovered 2013 is the year of the Britten Centennial. I found it out in the Telegraph, a London paper, and hoped that this wasn't a UK-only event. With some investigation (two google hits) I found out it wasn't. There are quite a few concerts happening in 2013-14 right here in L.A. The L.A. Opera is kicking it all off on February 20, with a free talk by director James Conlon. I plan to attend.
 

While beloved in the classical world, Benjamin Britten isn't exactly a household name. Like Englebert Humperdinck. And I only really delved into his music in the past few years, mostly because I heard a recording of his rarely-performed violin concerto by the British virtuoso, Daniel Hope. I also really like Janine Jansen's interpretation of this technically harrowing and emotionally exhausting work. Not for the faint of heart.

I had another experience with Britten, one that profoundly changed my life. Two years ago, I had been toying with the idea of getting a dog. I fell in love with one on the Baldwin Park Shelter's Facebook pages. I just knew she was "the one."

It was a Sunday, and I couldn't get hold of the shelter by phone. Knowing how swiftly county shelters euthanize dogs, I feared she could be gone by the end of the day. So, I jumped in my car and drove 40 miles deep into the Inland Empire. But only to check her out (wink, wink).

That Sunday happened to be one of the worst rainstorms I've experienced in my 14 years living in Los Angeles. I was on the slick, new 210 freeway, and I could barely see over the hood of my car. I really thought I needed to pull over and go back home.

But the thing that kept me going was a radio cast of Britten's opera Turn of the Screw, based on Henry James's novella. I was listening to the music and the commentary so intently, it kept me focused and calm, while I was hydroplaning like mad in this monsoon.

 photos via latimes.com

The commentator described Turn of the Screw as a "ghost story that challenges the mind." I loved this idea so much, it became the guiding principle for my own novel that I had just started and am now finishing, The Waking Eye.

And now my eyes awake to this face every morning.

Portrait of a Little Lady.

Driving home, I really wanted to give her a name from the story, but there wasn't much to choose from. The main character, the governess, is anonymous, and the only other female was the little girl, Flora. And my dog just wasn't a "Flora." So, she became "Isabel Archer," the lady in The Portrait of a Lady.

Here is a list of the events surrounding the Britten Centennial in L.A. There are lots...exciting!

Another notable anniversary this year is the centennial of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. The Joffrey Ballet is performing it here in L.A. this February. I plan to attend.

Photo by the Joffrey Ballet

One more note on the 100-year celebrations of composers: 2012 wrapped up with the Lutoslawski Centennial, and I was fortunate enough to see Esa-Pekka Salonen's return to the L.A. Philharmonic to conduct his Symphony #1 and Fanfare for the L.A. Philharmonic, along with Beethoven's Second Symphony and one of his lesser known overtures, the King Stephen.

It's cool to watch Salonen conduct anything, but especially Lutoslawski, since he has always been such a passionate advocate of the composer/conductor. New Yorker music critic, Alex Ross, began his article on Salonen's farewell from the Phil with the first words he said to the orchestra as a baby-faced 26-year-old maestro: “I suppose that you know the Lutosławski notation.” 

As KUSC DJ Brian Lauritzen notes on his blog, Lutoslawski's actual 100th birthday was January 25. The above moment was captured on film, One Minute Maestro, and can be seen at Celebrating Salonen (click on "videos" and scroll down). He also features the mini documentary that was shown that night at the concert.

hot boys. cool music.

How does that title grab ya? I'll be talking about a couple of fine ladies, too. I also thought of calling this post "24-Hour Music Odyssey." Because as I was driving into work the other morning, I was listening to KUSC, as I often do--classical music soothes the road-raging beast. Unlike Uprising Radio, which I love and also listen to in the mornings, but predictably, gets me all riled up and I start laying on the horn.

Moving on.

 

They announced on KUSC that Daniel Harding, the handsome man in the above photo, was just named Conductor Emeritus of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra for life. He's only 37 years old. And he's cute. And an amazing conductor. I was very excited about this.

I saw Harding conduct the L.A. Philharmonic this past fall in the Korngold Violin Concerto, featuring another cute, amazing musician--Renaud Capuçon, shown above, and --what else? Mahler's Fifth Symphony. It was an incredible concert. I know it's cheesy, but I love the Korngold Violin Concerto. It sounds like schmaltzy film music--because its themes were culled from Korngold's film scores.  But to a violinist, it's so breathtaking difficult and virtuosic. Like the Barber and the Tchaikovsky (maybe the Sibelius, too), it's only for the most technically adept players. And it's just exciting, over the top and a blast. Also--Korngold lived in Toluca Lake. Just like me.


Of course, the definitive interpretation of the Korngold is by Jascha Heifetz, for whom the piece was composed. But recently, I've been loving the the recording by the young Canadian violinist, James Ehnes. Capuçon's performance was fun, because he really drew out and took his time with the romantic themes, while amping up the tempo during the phrases of technical wizardry. I felt like the playing with tempos gave the concerto an avant-garde spin to one of this very crowd-pleasing piece of music.


But the Mahler was definitely the showcase of the evening. The Phil was on fire, and granted, they usually are. I heard someone complain that because most of the musicians have been in the orchestra for so long, their performances can come across as tired and routine. But I never feel that way.  They're one of the most passionate symphonies playing today. But it's interesting to see which conductors really get them going, and Harding most certainly did. As did my absolute favorite hottie-conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen, when he was in town for the Lutoslawski centennial.

Daniel Harding first came to my attention when he conducted Janine Jansen in her recording of the Tchaikovsky and Beethoven Violin Concertos. I love this recording and many others by her, and I was fortunate enough to see her play the Tchaikovsky at the Phil (with another non-hottie, non-Harding conductor). It was amaze-balls. I had tears.

Tears, I tell you.

So then, I was listening to my Beatles Pandora station, and this old song by the band Traffic came on. It really took me back--I loved this band when I was a kid.

Anyone who knows me knows that I cannot stomach the Grateful Dead. The music is dull and the whole phenomenon surrounding them--these bands of acid-dropping sheep that follow them around--utterly ridiculous.

But Traffic performed that kind of music, only in a much more compelling way. Kind of an improvisation of psychedelic rock, jazz and folk--without all the druggie nonsense and the stupid bootleg cassettes. Although I'm sure they consumed their rightful share of substances. It was the sixties, after all.

And, because I'm a complete dork, I have to admit that I just love Steve Winwood's voice, even after all these years. Look how cute he is. Not a care in the world.

Then this song came on that really caught my attention. Have Love, Will Travel. I checked it out, and it was by a band I've never heard of: The Sonics. The song was very 70's garage band/punk-ish, and it kind of reminded me of The Stooges. I was really surprised to discover it was recorded in 1964. Actually, the band it reminded me the most of was the Black Keys. And here they are singing HLWT. How do you like that?

I'd also like to note that The Sonics were out of Tacoma, WA, much like my favorite singer: good ol' Neko Case. But she lives in Vermont now.

When's your next album coming out, lady?

It looks like the Sonics has a short-lived career in the 60's and ended up performing a lot of covers, like Mustang Sally and Louie, Louie. Sad. But it's interesting how the Pacific Northwest has such a rich history of rock music. Seattle-Tacoma is the Manchester-Liverpool of the States.

 

My 24-Hour Music Odyssey wrapped up with a little something I heard on KUSC the next morning: Michelangelo 70 by Astor Piazzolla, an Argentinian tango composer and bandoneón player. I had never heard of Piazzolla and I didn't know what a bandoneón was. But tango music played by a string chamber group (with bandoneón) is absolutely electric. This recording can be found here.