Clara Rockmore’s Lost Theremin Album

Lost Theremin Album
List Price: $16.99
Sale Price: $13.99
Used From: $16.00
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Music Tracks

Binding: Audio CD
Artist:
Format:
Number of Discs: 1
Manufacturer: Bridge Records, Inc.
Original Release Date: 2006-01-01
Tracks Disc Number: 1
Tracks:

Liebesleid (Love's Sorrow), for violin & piano
Air for violin & keyboard in B minor
Humoresques (8) for piano, B. 187 (Op. 101): [Unspecified] Humoreske
Pastorale, for theremin & piano
Ellens Gesang III ('Ave Maria'), song for voice & piano, D. 839 (Op. 52/6)
Nocturne for piano No. 20 in C sharp minor, KK IVa/16, CT. 127 (B. 49)
Requiebros for cello & piano
Adagio, for keyboard in G major, BWV 968 (BC L185)
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, for voice & piano, A. 390: Aria
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068: Celebrated Air
Midnight Bells, transcription for violin and piano (after Richard Heuberger)
Kaddisch, song for voice & piano (Mélodie hébraïque No. 1)
Summertime, song (from Porgy and Bess, opera)
Water Boy
Estrellita for voice & piano (or orchestra)
La vie en rose, song

Reviews

The Theremin on this album seems to be an awful instrument to listen to over any length of time. I think that the Timbre of the Theremin used for this album is poor. Possibly modern Theremins are better in this regard. I feel as though I have thrown good money away. As an analogy, I think that this may be likened to Kenny G playing the slide whistle instead of a soprano sax!

I am a VERY amateur thereminist, and Rockmore's playing is EXCEPTIONAL, both as a thereminist and just as a musician period. From interviews and her method book, it is clear that she was adamant about the theremin being approached as a serious instrument, and not just a toy for making weird sounds. As this CD attests, she certainly succeeded in that. My favorites on this disc are Estrellita and Humoresque, although all the pieces are played well. Rockmore musicality is beyond reproach and her technical playing superior to any other player I've heard (and there aren't many... Lydia Kavina is excellent, but she doesn't have the string-like musicality and bravado of Rockmore). Rockmore's playing testifies to her training as violinist. The only limitation on the theremin in my opinion is the inability to vary the tone color. One of the most powerful expressive tools on many instruments (particularly voice and strings - which I feel are most similar to the theremin) is tone color. On a theremin the sound you hear is what you get... you can vary the volume and the intonation (through vibrato), but the sound itself is pretty static. Maybe one day a theremin will be designed that can respond to hand position or something to allow variations in timbre. Either way, this is a great CD as a novelty, but also has lasting power due to Rockmore's musical and technical mastery. ENJOY!

I also bought this CD after Rockmore's "Art of the Theremin." Different from its use in science fiction movies, here, the theremin sounds plaintive and-- it's hard to resist-- haunting, like a combination of a woman's voice, a musical saw, and a violin. Different from other reviewers who find the theremin boring, I enjoy the contrast between the theremin and acoustic instruments of the accompanying orchestra and piano. I especially like "Midnight Bells" ("Gehen wir ins chambre séparée" from Heuberger's operetta, "Der Opernball"), a waltz duet recorded solo by sopranos including Beverly Sills.

Thanks very much for making this wonderful and unique historical document available ... anyone who is even remotely interested in the Theremin and how well it CAN be played should not be without this CD!

The merchandise arrived in a timely manner and was all that had been offered..There were NO probs with this transaction or the item.