Dorothy Chandler

When my wife and I take our out-of-town friends into Los Angeles via the Metrolink for whirlwind walking tours of the Civic Center, they always seem to want to "linger a little longer" when we reach the plaza at the Music Center. And when we leave, after having basked in the sunlight and been cooled by the fountain's spray, we have never given any thought to whom we might thank for that exhilarating feeling that we take with us . . . until now. Thank you, Dorothy Buffum Chandler (obituary, July 7)

As Los Angeles came of age in the 20th century, a stately Windsor Square mansion served as a command post for the city's most powerful couple. The longtime home of publisher Norman Chandler, "Los Tiempos" (The Times) was where his wife, Dorothy Buffum Chandler, raised funds to build a nationally recognized music center and where she urged son Otis Chandler to transform the Los Angeles Times into an award-winning newspaper. Today, the city-designated historic-cultural monument is the focus of an unseemly dispute involving two house hunters who claim they were swindled into buying the compound for more than $8 million, only to find that it was "rotten to the core," according to arbitration documents.

Before the L.A. Philharmonic concert Tuesday, tribute was paid to Dorothy Buffum Chandler, who died Sunday. "The best way Dorothy Chandler can be addressed is by this great orchestra, said Ernest Fleischmann, above, managing director of the orchestra. "That the Bowl exists today is because of her passion." He then asked the Hollywood Bowl audience to stand for a silent tribute to Mrs. Chandler. The Philharmonic's program also paid tribute to Mrs.

On a brisk January afternoon, there's an air of high spirits as dozens of American Ballet Theatre's dancers and staff gather in the largest studio of the company's Lower Manhattan headquarters. For two hours, as they run through ABT's newest full-length ballet, "The Bright Stream," bravura mixes with hilarity, as virtuoso turns alternate with comic vignettes. Numerous characters not usually found on the ABT stage — a tractor driver, a milkmaid and the denizens of a 1930s Soviet agricultural collective — express themselves with individuality and distinctive styles.

As Los Angeles came of age in the 20th century, a stately Windsor Square mansion served as a command post for the city's most powerful couple. The longtime home of publisher Norman Chandler, "Los Tiempos" (The Times) was where his wife, Dorothy Buffum Chandler, raised funds to build a nationally recognized music center and where she urged son Otis Chandler to transform the Los Angeles Times into an award-winning newspaper. Today, the city-designated historic-cultural monument is the focus of an unseemly dispute involving two house hunters who claim they were swindled into buying the compound for more than $8 million, only to find that it was "rotten to the core," according to arbitration documents.

Choreographer Bill T. Jones and soprano Kallen Esperian will perform Sunday night in an "intimate salon-style ceremony" at the Regent Beverly Wilshire as part of the Music Center's Dorothy B. Chandler Performing Arts Awards.

Dorothy Buffum Chandler, whose strength and determination were credited with revitalizing the cultural heritage of Los Angeles, died Sunday. She was 96. Mrs. Chandler also was the wife for 50 years of the late Norman Chandler, third publisher of the Los Angeles Times. She was the mother of Otis Chandler, the former publisher and chairman of the board of directors of Times Mirror Co., and Mrs. Camilla Chandler Frost, who is active on several cultural, educational and corporate boards. Mrs.

I, for one, have been criticizing Disney Hall since they dug the hole in the ground ("What's Not to Like? Well ... ," by Scott Timberg, Sept. 5). Why? Because we didn't need it. The Dorothy Chandler is a young woman at 40. It is still grand and beautiful, and much more than serviceable. If musicologists and audiophiles really felt that, acoustically, the Chandler needed updating, that's what they should have spent their money on, not on building a single-use building like Disney Hall and leaving the Dorothy Chandler to rot. Stephany Yablow North Hollywood

Regarding Edy Williams' annual unveiling at the Oscar ceremony, you have to give the woman credit. Granted, she doesn't wear very much in the way of a gown, but, hey, every year this woman somehow manages to squeeze through the bars and gates of Camarillo (a feat in itself) to get to the Dorothy Chandler. After such an ordeal, who has the time or energy for looking chic. It takes all she has left to seek out an escort and then haul it on down to the Pavilion. S. E. ZYGMONT Los Angeles

READING about Dorothy Chandler's widely perceived indifference to the importance of having a major opera company in Los Angeles ["Holding Onto a High Note," Oct. 8] made me recall my one moment with Mrs. Chandler, circa 1979. I asked her if it was true that she was in fact indifferent to bringing opera to Los Angeles. Her answer was: "Oh, that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, I was just in London and went to Covenant [sic] Garden." That clarified everything.

By the time Michael Kepler Meo takes the Los Angeles Opera stage on Saturday for "The Turn of the Screw," he will have ventured from his hometown of Portland, Ore., to perform in St. Louis; Vancouver, Wash.; and New York (at Carnegie Hall, no less), and it will be his third production of Benjamin Britten's opera. And he's just 12 years old. The boy's path to singing began when his parents suspected a special voice in their toddler's babbles. At 6, he joined the Portland Boychoir and scored his first opera role two years ago as Miles in the Portland Opera's staging of "Turn of the Screw.

For six hours on Christmas Eve, more than 40 musical groups representing the diversity of Los Angeles will host a free (even parking!) alfresco performance at the Music Center downtown. That should warm the cold, tuneless heart of any Grinch. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. 3-6 p.m. Fri. Free. lacountyarts.org .

It goes by many names: Armageddon, the apocalypse, Ragnarok, the End of the World. In show business, it's sometimes referred to as the money shot — the climactic scene in which directors unleash a tidal wave of visual effects to conjure the mother of all earthly catastrophes. The opera world isn't known for its heart-stopping action sequences, but it does have its equivalent of a Michael Bay/Roland Emmerich moment at the end of Richard Wagner's "Götterdämmerung," the final chapter of the composer's four-opera cycle "The Ring of the Nibelung."

The Joffrey Ballet brings its production of Frederick Ashton's "Cinderella," set to Sergey Prokofiev's stunning score, to downtown for five performances. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. 135 N. Grand Ave. Thu., Fri., Sat. 7:30 p.m.; Sat.-Sun. matinees 2 p.m. (213) 972-7211. www.musiccenter.org

A wealth of holiday music and dance awaits the public during the 50th Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration , a six-hour extravaganza featuring both contemporary and traditional performances. More than 40 groups reflecting L.A.'s diverse cultural landscape have been selected to present music as diverse as hip-hop and handbells. The show is free (even parking) and will be broadcast live in HD on KCET, on the radio at 90.7 KPFK, and on the Web at kcet.org. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave. 3 p.m.-9 p.m. Thurs.

The timing seemed right. The UCLA football program was riding high in the fall of 1965. Behind sophomore quarterback Gary Beban, the Bruins had rallied for a miraculous comeback victory over USC. They were headed to the Rose Bowl, where on Jan. 1, 1966, they would upset top-ranked Michigan State, finally winning in their fourth trip to the New Year's Day showcase. In a time of great expansion on the Westwood campus -- Pauley Pavilion had opened its doors in June 1965 -- plans were in the works to build an on-campus football stadium.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Donald Douglas, Eli Broad, Amelia Earhart, George Ellery Hale and countless other like-minded souls shared a common thread: They ventured west to pursue their dreams of fame, fortune, a better life or creative freedom and left a lasting impact in Southern California. Honoring the spirit of dreamers whose significant contributions transformed a region once known as "Queen of the Cow Counties," history buff and photographer Harry Brant Chandler assembled a distinguished group of inventors, artists, immigrants and entrepreneurs in "Dreamers in Dream City," an exhibit at the Autry National Center.

Esa-Pekka Salonen, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is standing at the crossroads -- literally. With a Philharmonic publicist occasionally darting in to repair the effects of the wind on his light brown hair, Salonen is gamely enduring a photo shoot at the corner of 1st Street and Grand Avenue, where his past is about to meet his future. The downtown location is more than a little symbolic for the 44-year-old Finnish conductor.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Donald Douglas, Eli Broad, Amelia Earhart, George Ellery Hale and countless other like-minded souls shared a common thread: They ventured west to pursue their dreams of fame, fortune, a better life or creative freedom and left a lasting impact in Southern California. Honoring the spirit of dreamers whose significant contributions transformed a region once known as "Queen of the Cow Counties," history buff and photographer Harry Brant Chandler assembled a distinguished group of inventors, artists, immigrants and entrepreneurs in "Dreamers in Dream City," an exhibit at the Autry National Center.

In his native Italy, Roberto Bolle has achieved a degree of popularity unknown to ballet dancers in this country. His chiseled, handsome features -- not to mention his hunky torso -- are featured in magazine spreads and advertising campaigns. But he is also the real deal: a tall, supremely elegant dancer with exceptional line, harmonious plastique and partnering skills that have kept him in demand among leading ballerinas worldwide. "He's a perfect partner. He's so strong -- it's a pleasure.