CURATED CLASSIC #7: DELOS MOOGS PRESENT CLARA ROCKMORE THEREMIN

$

125

Welcome to the launch of this new series of offerings, which I'm calling Curated Classics!

WHAT IS A “CURATED CLASSIC”?

In letting go of my album collection, which I’ve been building for over 50 years, there are certain VERY SPECIAL discs that I am giving one final listen to before I say goodbye and list them here.  Many of these recordings have not been widely available in the digital age.  Some of these performances will probably never be available via “streaming” services, thus, I am creating this special line of premium record offerings.  

Before playing this one last time, each record is cleaned with my Discwasher, and de-static-ed with my Discwasher Zerostat gun.  My Dual 1219 has been recently rejuvenated with a new-old-stock idler wheel and lube job, and its Shure M91-ED has a fresh stylus that has seen very little use since new.  The tonearm is properly balanced and tracking set at exactly 1 gram, which is the exact center-point of the recommended pressure for both the turntable and the cartridge. 

A Curated Classic can come in any genre.  The main criterion being that these will all be historically significant records which have been very well cared for, properly cleaned, and carefully listened to in order to assess levels of surface noise, pops, clicks, etc.  Any of these discs that do not meet the standard I am setting here will not become part of this select group of offerings.   

In these new listings, I will give a bit of the history of the artists as well as the recordings themselves, to illustrate the recording's place in the musical timeline, as well as the timeline of the artist's life. These records need to be treasured and preserved, and so I have decided to do my part in passing them on with care and (hopefully) passing along some knowledge and the inspiration to learn more.  

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Curated Classic #7 is an EXTREMELY RARE, OUT OF PRINT TREAT:  Robert & Shirleigh Moog (of Moog Synthesizer fame) present the great Clara Rockmore, theremin, with her sister Nadia Reisenberg on piano, in theremin-ized classics!  

Clara Rockmore was Theremin's "Chosen One".  She, along with her older sister Nadia accompanying her on piano, placed his invention in the public eye with her mastery of this strange and wondrous new instrument he had created.  The liner notes for this record give an excellent, capsulized version of their relationship and her career, as well as notes on how the theremin actually works.  There is also an excellent film available out there called "Theremin: an Electronic Odyssey" which I highly recommend.

I bought this record new, in 1981, when I was managing a record store;  it has not been played more than a handful of times. It is on the "Delos QA" or "Quality Audiophile" label, and is a Japanese pressing, the label having a copyright date of 1981.   I've always kept the disc in its rice-paper inner sleeve, and carefully used my Discwasher brush each time it was played.  

These tracks were all recorded in the Moogs' studio in July of 1975.  Ms. Rockmore is accompanied by her sister, Nadia Reisenberg, on piano.  The front cover is graced by a rather striking painting of Clara, and the back cover is a delight with rare photos and the beginning of the program notes, which are continued on the inner fold of this gatefold album.  

The first side opens with a rather spine-tingling version of Rachmaninoff's famous Vocalise.  I say spine tingling, as there are times when your ear will wonder if this is really an electronic instrument or a real human voice.  It sets the rather melancholy tone for the rest of the record, program-wise, while setting the other-worldly tone of the entire experience of hearing this music.  

Ms. Rockmore plays the instrument that Theremin himself built expressly for her. 

The balance of the record is filled with other short classical works by a fairly wide range of classical composers, chosen, no doubt, to show the versatility of the theremin as well as Clara's uncanny virtuosity.  Among my favorites of the remaining tracks are Saint Saens' The Swan, as well as the lovely Berceuse by Tchaikovsky.  In all, this is a stunning document of this amazing artist's work near the end of her life.

On my final listen to this there were only a handful of pops/ticks, most of them confined to the silence between tracks.  As stated above, I've only played this a handful of times and have taken the utmost care of it since buying it new, in 1981.  

This is truly a marvelous document of the work of one of the most important figures in modern electronic music, a true pioneer who mastered the art of the theremin, and set the bar extremely high for all future performers.

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY RARE RECORD!  This copy is in as good a condition as one could hope to find at this point. It is time for someone else to become its caretaker and keep it safe. 

Will ship properly packaged via USPS Priority Mail.  

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NOTE:  I am confident that you will be pleased with these YesterGroove Curated Classics.  If there is an issue once you receive your record, PLEASE MESSAGE ME HERE ON EBAY FIRST!  I am always happy to work with buyers to address any issues they might have.   I cannot, however, afford to accept returns.  This has been my policy from the beginning.  I do my best to make sure that my buyers will be happy with their items, so that "returns" don't enter into the picture.  So, please reach out and communicate with me about any issues, and we will find a resolution.  

THANK YOU!