Prodigy

You sit down to write a novel, and soon the characters are crowding around demanding attention with the urgency and self-obsession of 3-year-olds. A few weeks in, and you can no longer shake them. In fact, nothing shuts them up until the manuscript is ripped from your hands on deadline, when you go from total control to utter powerlessness with one click of the Send button. Goodbye! Good luck! After that comes the weird silence of the empty nest, with its combination of freedom and loneliness.

There were box seats for the VIPs and a "bleachers" section for the boisterous party crowd, with their beach blankets, sleeping bags and picnic hampers. But the hottest tickets in town last night weren't to be found only at Dodger Stadium, where the home team bested the St. Louis Cardinals in the ninth inning of a playoff game. They also were being distributed downtown, where Gustavo Dudamel picked up his baton in his inaugural performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall as new music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Eighteen thousand people from every corner of the city, of every ethnicity, race and income, converged at the Hollywood Bowl last weekend to welcome Gustavo Dudamel, the new conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and to bask in Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." Thousands more who either couldn't afford tickets to Walt Disney Concert Hall or found them to be sold out will be watching tonight on televised simulcast as Dudamel kicks off his first season with the orchestra. Part of the craze is inspired by Dudamel himself -- his manner, his easy rapport with audiences and his talent.

Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha, who thrilled music listeners for decades with polished and enthralling interpretations of great classical works, has died. She was 86. De Larrocha died late Friday in a Barcelona hospital, said piano music expert, music producer and family friend Gregor Benko. She had been in poor health the last two years after breaking her hip. Critically acclaimed for her technique in performing Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Rachmaninoff, De Larrocha also was unrivaled in her interpretation of Spanish composers such as Manuel de Falla as well as masters from her native Catalonia such as Enrique Granados and Isaac Albeniz.

The song that popped into your head the minute you heard Michael Jackson was dead reveals something about you. If it was a Jackson 5 song -- "Never Can Say Goodbye," for example -- you're probably over 40. You have memories of Jackson as a little black boy in an Apple cap, and believe that the kind of "real" soul music he made then can heal wrongs. You're kind of a hippie, maybe, or at least a believer in the rootsy and the pure. If you thought of "Thriller," you're probably younger.

Beneath the cupola of a Parisian palace in the shadow of a worldwide economic crisis, the world's top art buyers gathered Monday for a historic auction: the sale of 733 pieces of art owned by the late designer Yves Saint Laurent, valued at as much as $380 million. An Henri Matisse painting of a vase, titled "The Couscous, Blue Carpet and Rose," went for $40.6 million, the highest amount paid for any of the French artist's works.

GERREN TAYLOR was still playing with Barbie dolls when she walked the runway for the first time at Los Angeles Fashion Week in 2003. Just 12 at the time, she was the youngest person ever to be represented by the runway division of L.A. Models. Although most agencies require girls to be 14, it's not unheard of for 12-year-olds to get work. Actress Milla Jovovich made the cover of Vogue at 12, and Brooke Shields, Gisele Bundchen and Kate Moss were all stars before they turned 16. With her long legs and confident walk, Taylor looked as though she would follow in their footsteps.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- When Josh Hamilton is introduced before tonight's All-Star Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium, the reception he'll receive will be humbling. Oh, sure, the votes of the 3.7 million fans who wanted him in the American League's starting lineup for Tuesday's game were nice. As was the support of his peers, who gave Hamilton more All-Star votes than any other AL outfielder.