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Music and Memories
Clara Rockmore (theremin)
rec. 1960-1992
ROMÉO RECORDS 7330-31 [71:25 + 71:25]

I reviewed a previous Clara Rockmore Roméo release called Music in and on the Air (for some background to the performer and instrument, see review) and this latest release, a well-filled twofer, wears a similar look, given the inevitably focused repertoire of her arrangements for theremin.

Once again we have a raft of works central to the violin canon and encore pieces reflective of her background as a distinguished violinist – a student of Leopold Auer - whose career had come to an unfortunate end as a result of an arm injury. The first segment of the first disc consists of home recordings made with her sister Nadia Reisenberg whom I think all critics are united in admiring. They play the Andante from Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole, the theremin imparting a grand guignol quality exploiting the full range of the instrument from cello tone to a kind of high soprano range. The slow movement of Bach’s Double is achieved by virtue of Rockmore overdubbing to create a Theremin duo. I’ve never been convinced, as other surviving examples show, that the instrument was suitable for this piece, however skilled Rockmore may have been. Much more apposite is Franck’s Sonata, again recorded around 1960, though the final section was recorded c. 1977 as the recording tape ran out. The elision from the 1960 tape to the 1977 splice has been finely done. It’s in the mid-range that Rockmore shows what the theremin can really do and as she phrased with such understanding of the vocalised qualities of the instrument and had herself performed the work on the violin so often, this all lends the performance an uncanny element of conviction. In faster passages the slithery nature of the theremin’s response is destabilising, especially with the hard oscillations, but this is a good example of the theremin in action.

In 1989 Rockmore and Reisenberg joined, moderator Robert Sherman, Reisenberg’s son, for a performance at Merkin Concert Hall. There’s a rather lovely Pone Estrellita, a decidedly Rabbinic Ravel Kaddish and a favourite Rachmaninov song transcription. There is a brief interview with Rockmore and pianist Morey Ritt and an impromptu contribution from Alexander Schneider who had known Rockmore and performed with her as a fellow fiddler back in the old country.

The second disc follows the pattern of the first. The opening is a somewhat sub-fusc home recording of two Glinka songs, using overdubbing again, and then there are broadcasts spanning the years 1962-95. One of the broadcasts marked Vilnius Day and again Schneider was present with some focused and charming recollections. Schneider notes how he Germanized his name and how the correct pronunciation of the violinist they both revered should really be ‘Hayfitz’ not ‘Highfitz‘. The 1962 broadcast moderated by John Corigliano is in rougher sound, clearly, but it’s still very listenable. She talks about how the use of glissandi and portamenti are converted on the theremin by application of independent notes. She is a great proselytizer for the instrument and its five-octave range and notes how she plays Bloch’s Schelomo on the instrument. Elsewhere she is clear on the use of ‘aerial bowing’ and decries the idea that the theremin offers mere ‘sound effects’. The interview in 1992 is especially valuable as it also features Leon Theremin himself, who had first met Rockmore – he is vague on the location – in New York. Theremin had studied cello. His English is halting and Rockmore has to translate a question for him into Russian.

This is a well-produced and well documented selection for the specialist in the theremin (there are some, I believe). I would hesitate to recommend it to admirers of the pianist if only for the variable sound quality but clearly there’s enjoyment to be had there too. Rockmore’s ardent fans tend to worship everything about her playing of the theremin. I’ve often found the instrument’s queasy James Whale associations overriding. That still stands in unsuitable music and inappropriate registers. But as a recently issued addendum (Roméo Records 7333) to this release shows , which I’ll be reviewing soon, when the repertoire is right the instrument is a bewitching conduit for great music.

Jonathan Woolf


Contents & performance details
Édouard LALO (1823–1892)
Andante from Symphonie espagnole in D minor, Op.2 (1875) [6:27]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Adagio from Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043 (theremin double-tracked) [7:18]
César FRANCK (1822-1890)
Violin Sonata in A major (1886) [30:15]
Mikhail GLINKA (1804–1857)
Two Songs: Doubt [2:27]: Elegy, Do Not Tempt Me Needlessly [3:19] (theremin double-tracked)
Nadia Reisenberg (piano)
Manuel Maria PONCE (1882-1948)
Estrellita (1912) [3:01]
Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)
Six Romances; Song of Grusia, Op.4 No.4 (1890-1893) [5:27]
Live at Merkin Hall with Morey Ritt (piano)
Six Romances; Song of Grusia, Op.4 No.4 (1890-1893) [4:41]
Live at WQXR with violinist Erick Friedman (violin) and Nadia Reisenberg (piano)
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
Deux mélodies hébraïques: Kaddish (1914) [6:08]
Live at Merkin Hall with Morey Ritt (piano)
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Carnival of the Animals: The Swan [3:00]
Live at WQXR
Broadcast Conversations with Clara Rockmore and John Corligiano (WBAI), David Garland (WNYC), Alexander Schneider (WQXR), Robert Sherman and Leon Theremin