Back East the arrival of the seed catalogs in midwinter announces the prospect of warmer weather ahead. Out here the arrival of the Da Camera Society’s Chamber Music in Historic Sites brochure in midsummer announces the prospect of cooler weather ahead. Both publications bear the message that this is, or is trying to be, the best of worlds.
Once again, founder, artistic director and blithe spirit MaryAnn Bonino has put together an alluring parlay: 28 events — string quartets, early-music groups, jazz, Bach, kid stuff — each one in a setting as if God and the architects had first heard the music and then done the designs. There’s Union Station for jazz, the Queen Maryfor a chamber orchestra, churches all over town, the glorious rotunda at the Doheny Mansion for a whole series of enchanted Fridays. Next time a visitor from beyond the mountains starts in about Los Angeles’ lack of class in the arts, MaryAnn’s brochure is what you brandish. Ask for one at (310) 954-4300, and prepare to salivate.