Henri Temianka

It was with great sadness that I noted the passing of maestro Henri Temianka on Nov. 7. As a young piano student, bribed with the promise of a post-performance Wil Wright's ice cream, I attended Temianka's Concerts for Youth at UCLA's Royce Hall. I will never forget the joy and enthusiasm with which Temianka taught us to listen to and appreciate fine music. Some 25 years later, as an avid amateur musician and devoted concert-goer, I had the pleasure of hearing him give forth at his Sunday soirees at the Mark Taper.

It was with great sadness that I noted the passing of maestro Henri Temianka on Nov. 7. As a young piano student, bribed with the promise of a post-performance Wil Wright's ice cream, I attended Temianka's Concerts for Youth at UCLA's Royce Hall. I will never forget the joy and enthusiasm with which Temianka taught us to listen to and appreciate fine music. Some 25 years later, as an avid amateur musician and devoted concert-goer, I had the pleasure of hearing him give forth at his Sunday soirees at the Mark Taper.

A violinist fiddles and a conductor conducts. An impresario may do either or both but he also has to raise money. Henri Temianka, who has been doing all three for years and enriching the cultural life of Los Angeles in the process, has decided that two out of three would be plenty good enough.

Henri Temianka, the conductor and founder of the California Chamber Symphony Orchestra, whose virtuosi concerts over five decades created an indelible landmark on the Los Angeles music scene, has died. He was 85. His son Dan said Sunday that his father died Saturday of the complications of cancer. The conductor and his wife of nearly 50 years, Emmy, lived in a rambling Rancho Park home filled with objets d' art .

Henri Temianka, the conductor and founder of the California Chamber Symphony Orchestra, whose virtuosi concerts over five decades created an indelible landmark on the Los Angeles music scene, has died. He was 85. His son Dan said Sunday that his father died Saturday of the complications of cancer. The conductor and his wife of nearly 50 years, Emmy, lived in a rambling Rancho Park home filled with objets d' art .

Hail! Quayle! All-American male Intellectual snail Keeper of the grail Is America for sale? Where did we fail? HENRI TEMIANKA Los Angeles

I note with displeasure one of your Israel-bashing editorials ("Erecting Obstacles to the Peace Process," Jan. 4). Israel is not supposed to retaliate against the murder of its citizens. Israel, a country smaller than Connecticut, is supposed to return land to its Arab neighbors who control sparsely occupied territories larger than the United States and Canada combined. Where is the logic? HENRI TEMIANKA Los Angeles

Quayle's attack on the cultural elite bears an ominous resemblance to the campaign of Hitler's propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels' attack on "kulturbolshevism" led to the notorious book burnings, the destruction of the intellectual and cultural German elite, and all the horrors that followed. However, I applaud Quayle for his appeal to patriotism, of which he gave such a shining example during the Vietnam War. HENRI TEMIANKA, Los Angeles

I regret the sneering review of the Los Angeles Doctors Symphony orchestra (June 21). As a group of music-loving amateurs, with no professional pretentions, the orchestra has generated worldwide good will and friendship for the United States. Traveling at their own expense, the members have given benefit concerts and raised substantial amounts of money for hospitals and cancer center in Indonesia, Japan, Greece, Israel, Turkey, Thailand, Peru and other countries. Personal meetings and and exchanges between the Los Angeles doctors and their colleagues abroad further enhanced the value of these tours.

The death of violinist Jascha Heifetz marks the end of an era in more ways than one. During and after World War II, many of the most illustrious musicians took up residence in Southern California as exiles, refugees, expatriates, immigrants. At one and the same time, composers Stravinsky and Schoenberg lived here, as did composer-pianist Rachmaninoff, pianist Rubinstein, conductors Stokowski, Walter, Klemperer, cellist Piatigorsky, violist Primrose, violinist Szigeti and other luminaries with whom the layman might be less familiar.

Quayle's attack on the cultural elite bears an ominous resemblance to the campaign of Hitler's propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels' attack on "kulturbolshevism" led to the notorious book burnings, the destruction of the intellectual and cultural German elite, and all the horrors that followed. However, I applaud Quayle for his appeal to patriotism, of which he gave such a shining example during the Vietnam War. HENRI TEMIANKA, Los Angeles

I note with displeasure one of your Israel-bashing editorials ("Erecting Obstacles to the Peace Process," Jan. 4). Israel is not supposed to retaliate against the murder of its citizens. Israel, a country smaller than Connecticut, is supposed to return land to its Arab neighbors who control sparsely occupied territories larger than the United States and Canada combined. Where is the logic? HENRI TEMIANKA Los Angeles

Don't get the wrong idea, says Henri Temianka. The veteran violinist-conductor-raconteur may be leaving the concert stage, but he is not abandoning the musical arena. "For the first time--and I really think it's true--I'm going to spend some time looking backward instead of forward," the 84-year-old impresario said this week in announcing that the Sunday afternoon California Chamber Virtuosi concert at Pepperdine University will mark the end of his concert career.

A violinist fiddles and a conductor conducts. An impresario may do either or both but he also has to raise money. Henri Temianka, who has been doing all three for years and enriching the cultural life of Los Angeles in the process, has decided that two out of three would be plenty good enough.

Henri Temianka, 83, has announced he will step down as artistic director of the Croissants & Coffee & Chamber Music series at the Mark Taper Forum of the Music Center. The four-concert, Sunday-morning series closes its 11th season Dec. 9.

I regret the sneering review of the Los Angeles Doctors Symphony orchestra (June 21). As a group of music-loving amateurs, with no professional pretentions, the orchestra has generated worldwide good will and friendship for the United States. Traveling at their own expense, the members have given benefit concerts and raised substantial amounts of money for hospitals and cancer center in Indonesia, Japan, Greece, Israel, Turkey, Thailand, Peru and other countries. Personal meetings and and exchanges between the Los Angeles doctors and their colleagues abroad further enhanced the value of these tours.

Your editorial opposing capital punishment ignores the central issue. The major purpose of capital punishment is not vengeance, but the protection of society. Dead men commit no crimes. How can you possibly defend the rationale of feeding, housing, clothing and protecting the Night Stalker who, heaven protect us, may go on living for the next 60 years? Who will assure us that he will not be paroled at some future date for "good behavior"? I am not familiar with the statistics on the cost of keeping one criminal in prison, but surely it can't be less than $10,000 dollars per year, considering the salaries of the guards and administrative expenses.

Something was noticeably absent when Henri Temianka led a contingent from his California Chamber Symphony at Ambassador Auditorium on Wednesday. The performances went off smoothly enough, and trumpeter Maurice Andre brought the expected suavity to his solo duties. Yet, it just didn't seem like a Temianka concert without those endearing, often rambling monologues the conductor has favored in his long career. Of course, Temianka was tongue-tied for a good reason. This wasn't really his show.

Hail! Quayle! All-American male Intellectual snail Keeper of the grail Is America for sale? Where did we fail? HENRI TEMIANKA Los Angeles

The death of violinist Jascha Heifetz marks the end of an era in more ways than one. During and after World War II, many of the most illustrious musicians took up residence in Southern California as exiles, refugees, expatriates, immigrants. At one and the same time, composers Stravinsky and Schoenberg lived here, as did composer-pianist Rachmaninoff, pianist Rubinstein, conductors Stokowski, Walter, Klemperer, cellist Piatigorsky, violist Primrose, violinist Szigeti and other luminaries with whom the layman might be less familiar.