Mount Wilson rises more than a mile high above the Los Angeles Basin, gazing down upon Pasadena like a silent, snow-dusted god. And this coming Sunday afternoon, the vaulted dome at the Mount Wilson Observatory will swing with the jazzy, smoky sounds of Parisian-Russian Roma music as “Cabaret Tzigane” with Los Angeles-based Trio Dinicu takes the small stage in the lofty presence of the observatory’s fabled 100-inch telescope.
The concert is named for the group’s recently released album, echoing the Parisian tradition of Cabaret Russe and hotspots like Karlov, La Balalaika, Raspoutine, La Roue Fleurie, and Les Tziganes Ivanovitch. And although this live concert is the last of the six-month summer series, it’s just the beginning of wonders unfolding upon mighty Mount Wilson.
The musical group named itself for the Romanian violin virtuoso Grigoraş Dinicu, who inspired admiration from masters including Jascha Heifetz and Django Reinhardt collaborator Stéphane Grappelli.
Now imagine this spicy, witty musical mix spiriting up through the oculus, or opening, at the apex of the observatory dome like the roof of a kiva, issuing the sound up into the heart of our expanding universe, an offering to the stars, food for the moon.
A linguistic lagniappe: these musical forms, Tzigane, Manouche, Sinti, are often called “gypsy.” That term has fallen out of favor with most people represented in this ethnically complex culture, who prefer to be called “Roma” and “Romani.” Their ancient origins lie in India, far from Egypt as the term “gypsy” infers, and their music—sexy, soulful, sophisticated, worldly, often sung in French, yet rocking with the thump and sob of Eastern European folk traditions, sometimes intersecting with klezmer and other genres—will take up permanent residence in your skin, your senses, and your memory.
We recently caught up with Cécilia Tsan, Artistic Director for Mount Wilson’s Sunday Afternoon Concerts in the Dome series which she co-founded in 2017, and a cellist of astonishing erudition and accomplishment, who explains that she has an unusual link to this music.
“When I was much younger, a struggling musician 35 years ago, I met Stéphane Grappelli, performed with him, and a little while later he actually sent me money to buy a good cello.”
Versailles-born Tsan currently serves as Principal Cello with Long Beach Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Her credits, including the August 2024 release of a two-CD set entitled “John Williams Reimagined” (Warner Classics), literally span the globe and include a formidable musical presence in film and television production.
She’s calmly low-key about her resume and says “There is simply nowhere else on earth, at least not that I’m aware of, where people can experience music in a place as strange and elevated as this. It’s a form of communion. There is a sense of eternity. I feel that the musicians, and the audience through its presence, are literally sending a message to the stars and the planets.”
The idea for the series hatched when friend Dan Kohne, now Chief Operating Officer of the Board for the observatory, asked her to try something…unusual.
“He asked me to come over and play my cello in the dome. Because I’m curious by nature, I did and…” Her voice trails off. “He shot a video with his iPhone, and I felt so moved. The acoustics, because of the air-flow, are incredible. It’s even different than playing in a cathedral. In the dome, the universe is so reachable.”
Due to the inversion layer that traps warm air and smog over Los Angeles, Mount Wilson is reported to have steadier, smoother air-pressure than any other location in North America.
Even if you think “gas giants” are some of the current political candidates (FYI, these are actually Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune), the legacy of 100-inch and 60-inch telescopes looms large. These big guns are North America’s largest now made available for public viewings, versus their history of pure research.
“Light Grasp”
The measurements refer to the diameter of the telescope’s main mirror. The number describes how much “light grasp” a telescope has, meaning how many photons it can collect.
The 100-incher is probably the most famous telescope in the world, and was used to make many of the 20th Century’s greatest astronomical discoveries, including Edwin Hubble’s revelation that spiral nebulae are in fact galaxies outside the Milky Way.
Like the twisty, hairpin turn-strewn journey to the observatory itself, the building of these telescopes more than a century ago was also a long and winding road. The solid glass mirror for the 100-inch Hooker Cassegrain telescope was cast in 1907 by St. Gobain glassworks in the Champagne region of France by artisans who carried on the techniques used to create the 357 mirrors for Louis XIV’s Palace of Versailles.
The 4.5 ton mirror arrived in Pasadena in 1908, as a blank. Cast in three layers, the glass contains some bubbles, swirls and inclusions, and was originally rejected for its imperfections. St. Gobain tried and failed to produce a better mirror, so the original was accepted in 1913 amidst much grumbling. Optical grinding took five years, and the resulting parabola is accurate to within two millionths of an inch.
If you go for this kind of thing, you’ll love the geekfests known as “Talks and Telescopes” which take place here through the end of October. After that, the calendar goes dark until May 2025, since the alpine weather turns frosty enough to occasionally produce a light snow. After all, this peak’s indigenous name is “Shandoka” or “storm-maker.”
And even if you don’t nerd out over focal lengths, parabolic primaries and hyperbolic secondaries, this event and those to follow warrant the effort.
Quite apart from the musical programming, the experience is surreal. When standing on the mezzanine level where the control panel is located, one gets the unnerving sensation that you — not the dome — are moving.
Throughout the spring and summer, concerts, observing sessions, lectures, art exhibits and educational programs are on the bill. Entrance to the campus is free, spring through fall.
Tsan says that next season, large-screen monitors may be added along with additional seating, so that the large dome can accommodate a total of 200 guests.
Unique Experience
Know that the location is not ADA-compliant. There is, however, a convenient, free shuttle that will take you from the parking lot to the observatory if you aren’t the hiking sort — you’ll need to get a parking pass at The Cosmic Café before boarding, or you can display a current National Parks Pass inside your vehicle.
Once inside the observatory, there are 53 steep stairs. There is no elevator.
As if on a day-trip to Denver or Kathmandu, the air turns thin and you’ll feel it. Observatory staff recommend wearing comfortable, supportive shoes and to dress warmly.
A delightful artist reception included in your ticket price (cheese, crudité, fruit, crackers and bread, small sweets, wine, beer, soda, water) will be offered on the paved outdoor courtyard between shows on Sunday, October 6. Plus, there’s all manner of spacey merch (tees, caps, pins) for purchase.
DEETS
- Mount Wilson Observatory’s Sunday Afternoon Concerts in the Dome
- Final two shows of the season!
- Sunday, October 6, 2024
- 3:00 PM, 5:00 PM
- “Cabaret Tzigane” featuring violinist Luanne Homzy, and Felix Kochendörfer on double bass,
- Advance tickets strongly suggested
- Ticket price $60
- Access to Mount Wilson is via the Angeles Crest Highway (CA Hwy 2) from the 210 freeway at La Cañada / Flintridge. Highly recommended: download and print PDF map and directions.
- General info: 626-214-8030
- Concert info: www.mtwilson.edu/concerts
Hi Victoria!
I’m that insomniac old woman in Pasadena who grounds her long night flights by checking in with the beacon on Mt. Wilson. I gaze hypnotically at the shining, searching eye that looks back at the stars.
It’s been probably six decades since I visited the Observatory. They had a petting zoo nearby back then, and my toddler daughter loved it. And there is the physicality of the stunning, overpowering mass of machinery so sophisticated and refined in its pursuit, and the journey of stars.
You write beautifully and educationally about the observatory and telescope, and Cabaret Tzigane’s music and musical tradition. What an unexpected and marvelous pairing! You share an unsettling sensation of turning slowly beneath the sky. My communion with the beacon will be embroidered with colorful swirls of imagined violin, my all too solid flesh, turned like a balletic star in the dimension of this memory that you’ve created for me. Wow! Really. Thank you.