The Wanda-Michelle-Jael Connection

One nice by-product of my vinyl-to-FLAC project is rediscovering some old music I had almost forgotten. Case in point would be my mono recording of legendary Wanda Landowska's 1945 performance on harpsichord of Bach's Goldberg Variations -- with liner notes by Landowska herself. Like so much music, listening immediately evokes distant memories.

First, there is my long-ago friend, Jael Greenleaf, who used to visit me in my Venice Beach live-in darkroom/photo studio to discuss politics, art, music and, yes, sports cars (given her Jag XKE and my Porsche 911), and she would sometimes bring some records of her own to share with me. Mostly then we were listening to punk rock and classical piano. One day she dropped off a copy of her Wanda Landowska On Music, a marvelous, thick tome of writings, snippets of scores and old photographs (one turn-of-century image shows her with such notables as Rimsky-Korsachov, Auguste Rodin and other Paris art scene luminaries). The moth-eaten, dog-eared, roach-trodden volume still exists on an obscure shelf in my library! Once I had re-heard the 1945 recording, I not only wanted Ivi to hear it, but I suddenly remembered the book and wanted my daughter to see that as well. Now I am wondering if Jael actually meant to leave it with me that day. So this gives me a good excuse to try to look her up after all these years; it's probably fifteen since last contact.

SIDEBAR: Jael has gone on to become a nationally prominent mental health practitioner, especially recognized for her lectures and books on the subject of ACoA (Adult Children of Alcoholics). Look her up on Amazon, or just Google for more information.

Next, Wanda Landowska has triggered memories of my brief, but most wonderful, acquaintance of Michelle Tiff. While I was working at UCLA, I enjoyed the proximity to Westwood music stores for lunchtime relaxation and research. One day I returned to my desk with some found treasures. Passing by my desk was a young woman I had seen in the department and knew to be a part-time student worker, but we had never conversed. She was there to help her supervisor communicate requirements and questions for a computer application I was programming for the department, but when she saw the records I had purchased, the discussion immediately turned to music. As it turned out, not only did we both love Bach, but when she asked for specifics, and I cited the Goldberg Variations as a prime example, she disclosed that, as part of working for her doctorate or some such thing, she had devoted the past year to exclusively working with the Variations and studying as many extant recordings as possible. (By the way, at that point in time, Michelle advised that Andras Schiff did her favorite recording, and Keith Jarrett her least favorite.) In the days to come, conversations would continue and Michelle would lend me some of her harpsichord and piano CDs. My only regret from that brief period, which provided a new reason to look forward to my days at UCLA, was that I missed Michelle's UCLA harpsichord recital (due to the birth of my son). Haven't seen her since. The pencil-and-crayon portrait, by the way, was done by acclaimed sculptor/painter Artis Lane.

SIDEBAR #2: While Michelle would sometimes conclude our talks by mentioning that she needed to "go running", it was some of her co-workers who told me that she was an Olympic-class marathon and distance running athlete. That came as no surprise to me, as I had seen how extraordinarily focused and dedicated she was to anything I saw her undertake!

Now I must wonder what Jael and Michelle might be listening to these days ... !