Rockmore, Clara

Theremin: Music In and On The Air

Label: Romeo Records Country: USA

"A major gap in theremin virtuosa Clara Rockmore's recorded legacy will be closed with the release of Music In and On the Air, a CD based upon a 2 hour live broadcast of Robert Sherman's award winning program "The Listening Room" on January 26, 1979 over WQXR-FM.

This live radio concert was Ms. Rockmore's first public performance in decades, and indeed her only live radio performance ever. Ms. Rockmore performed solo and chamber pieces in front of a packed live audience in The New York Times auditorium along with the renowned pianist (and Ms. Rockmore's sister) Nadia Reisenberg, the superb violinist Erick Friedman, and eight members of the Violincello Society.

In addition to St. Saens' "The Swan" and Cassado's "Requiebros" (available in studio recordings on Delos and Bridge CDs, respectively), Ms. Rockmore and Mr. Friedman played Rachmaninoff's "Song of Georgia" in the Fritz Kreisler transcription with violin obbligato, and they shared the solos in the slow movement of Bach's D Minor Double Violin Concerto with Mr. Reisenberg on piano. As a special treat, Ms. Reisenberg and Mr. Friedman played two movements of the Franck A Major Sonata, a sneak preview of their upcoming Carnegie Hall recital.

The members of the Violincello Society opened with an arranged movement of the Beethoven Trio in C, and then accompanied Ms. Rockmore in Bach's celebrated "Air on the G String" and the radiant "Aria" from Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras #5.

Fascinating interviews with all the artists provide wonderful insights into the music and the musicians, and the album notes include photos of Ms. Rockmore, Ms. Reisenberg and Mr. Friedman, as well as Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Leon Theremin), some of which have never been published before."-Romeo Records