Steve Martin and the NY Theremin Society are thrilled to arrange the historic attempt of bringing 10 Thereminists together in an ensemble to perform at the Los Angeles Disney Hall on May 26th. This had only happened once before, 75 years ago at Carnegie Hall. The Thereminsts are Rob Schwimmer, Armen Ra, Dalit Warshaw, Dorit Chrysler, Carolina Eyck, Steve Martin, Kevin Lee, Charles Lester, Roger Ballenger and Robby Virus. If you're in the area, don't miss this chance to see a once-in-a-lifetime event!
More Information: LAPhil.com
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i noticed quite a few levnetter are going to be performing, but no one other than here has said anything.
when the concert was first proposed, many of the participants were saying how it wouldn't work, but now..
I asked over at levnet, and so i'll ask here, is their a Disney gag order not to talk about it. If i was involved, and i ain't (sob) i'd be talking about it every where, so my the silence
Andy
Masami Takeuchi has an ensemble and each theremin-like instrument is equipped with a stethoscope so the players can seperate their pitch from everyone elses.
There are many technical hurdles -- the Moog Theremins do interact with each other in unpredictable ways. For example, one person's modulation of volume can impact another theremin's pitch. Various "flavors" of intermodulation distortion become audible and confusing.
The group is a great lineup of thereminists and wish them well.
http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=2571&F=4
... here it is again...
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Even at the Disney Hall site there's scant info
http://wdch.laphil.com/tix/performance_detail.cfm?id=3333
Text excerpt
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Pravda
Non-Subscription NSB4
Saturday, May 26, 2007, 10:00 PM
Walt Disney Concert Hall
111 S. Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 850-2000
Artists:
Amon Tobin; Cut Chemist; DJ Spooky; J-Rocc; Peanut Butter Wolf; dublab soundsystem, special guest; Norton Wisdom, special guest; Christoph Bull, special guest; MC This with Michael Allen, special guest; Mumbles & Gone Beyond, special guest; DJ Alex Ratushnyak, special guest
Program:
Plus a special appearance by a 10-piece Theremin Orchestra (Steven M. Martin, conductor)
Join an extraordinary line-up of DJs, VJs, artists, and live musicians as they dissect the sounds, sights, and philosophies of the Stalinist-era Soviet Union. Exploding the oppression and exposing the truth, these progressive artists will re-mix the music of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Mosolov, and visuals from films including Battleship Potemkin, Alexander Nevsky, and more. Don't miss this world premiere, one-of-a-kind late night exploration of Russian culture from the past to the present.
Shadow of Stalin is supported by a grant from the Michael J. Connell Foundation.
==================================
Looks really interesting,
but not purely theremin.
Seems more of a big mix of a late night extraganza of Russian music.
Good to see Dalit Warshaw in the list, haven't heard much of her since she appeared at NYTS with Pamalea. I doubt she'll take the Clara Rockmore theremin out to LA.
And honestly, the NYTS has had more than 10 theremins playing at once.
May 10, 2007 LA Times
"Steven Martin, director of the 1994 documentary "Theremin: An Electric Odyssey," is even leading a 10-person theremin orchestra on May 26 in a portion of the series called "Pravda." That same evening more than a dozen DJs will present their own take on the Soviet oeuvre."
http://www.calendarl...
I still think everyone involved are being too quite about it.
no blogs on rehearsals, or preparing for the trip
no one talking about the music.
i still think there is a Disney gag order involved
You don't mess with the Mouse
Andy
Hey, did I read your post correctly? Is this actually what is happening or is it Rupert's speculation?
What motive would underly a "gag order" for musicians?
This all seems a bit strange.
Mr. Martin however might be in the position to place such a constraint.
I'd await solid or first hand evidence of this interesting speculation.
Of those involved that I know personally, I would not expect them to pursue a sham performance.
Any one with a related fact, please chime in.
A void of fact is the petrie dish of urban legend.
TW member IQU, Mr. Kento Oiwa, who mentioned he is performing, could be a great help clarifying this rumoring...?
Off course I just love conspiracy theories.
Andy
added: I just find it odd no one is talking about their involvement.And after the first 10 theremin catastophy, I can't imagine all those different theremins working together and playing together without it turning into a freeform mess.
I'm reviewing the recent news but see no evidence of it. Simply because the hall bears that name does not mean Disney Corp. is even involved, I thought the LA Phil was the series producer.
This is an extremely serious allegation against those performing and we should remain as factual as possible I think.
Please advise.
thanks!
I've only seen a mention to the concert on a few myspace sites.
I asked the same question over at levnet, where many are involved and still had no response, except their probably too busy.
That's probably all there is too it.
Andy
it's saying "produced by the LA Philharmonic"
but no mention of aether-sync'ing.
http://www.doritchry...
Back to homework
Andy
Now we're really going to want an audience member report!
Andy, home work... poo.
If you find out more during the next study break please let us know.
Just to confirm something suggested above:
The Walt Disney Company has virtually nothing to do with the Walt Disney Concert Hall, nor with the concerts that go on there.
The concert hall is so named because Walt's widow, the late Lillian Disney, in 1987 made a key bequest of $50 million to set in motion the construction of a new hall for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Yes, the Disney Co. is evil, but that's irrelevant to the topic at hand.
Saturday, May 26th - LA Disney Hall - "Shadow of Stalin" Series
*For the first time since Leon Theremin conducted the original ten Theremin Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in 1932, the concert is recreated with ten theremin players on the stage at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Co-produced by Dorit Chrysler of THE NY THEREMIN SOCIETY & Steve Martin (maker of the documentary on Leon Theremin) the orchestra will feature the following players: Roger Ballenger, Dorit Chrysler, Carolina Eyck, Kevin Lee, Kento Oiwa, Armen Ra, Rob Schwimmer, Robby Virus, Dalit Warshaw & Lara Wickes. The repertoire, arranged by Dalit Warshaw will be conducted by Steve Martin.
This event is part of the series " SHADOW of STALIN" and will take place on Saturday, May 26th at the LA Disney Hall.
Dorit will also perform with Amon Tobin that night.
Glimpsed Dalit Warshaw among the audience milling about just before last night's BMOP concert, but didn't have time to go over, introduce myself, and ask her what's the scoop. And then couldn't find her at all during intermission or afterward.
[img]http://www.mormontab...[/img]
From LA Times MUSIC REVIEW
"A proletariat mash-up at Disney Hall"
http://www.calendarlive.com/music/la-et-pravda28may28,0,4448195.story?coll=cl-music
""
Another crowd-pleaser was Christoph Bull's performance on the hall's great organ, blending Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" with techno beats and fuzzy guitar. But the rarest thrill was the 10-piece Theremin Orchestra, which made an eerie, almost choral sound that perfectly fit the mournful Russian "Song of the Volga Boatmen." If Gershwin's "Summertime" and the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" seemed beyond the show's theme, they nevertheless radiated a strangely melancholic beauty, somehow reminding listeners that, in the end, the tyrant fell, but the art lived on.
""
I'm looking for more details... and PHOTOS.
If any of you TW denizens were there, please let us know what it was like!
Oh and they did use that funky pipe organ too:
""Another crowd-pleaser was Christoph Bull's performance on the hall's great organ, blending Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" with techno beats and fuzzy guitar"" along with a piece Dorit played on too.
Or at least seven of them.
No cardboard cut outs from what I can see.
And lots of space in between, nice.
From Spin.com
"Electronica Meets Russian Cinema"
[img]http://www.spin.com/...[/img]
http://www.spin.com/...
Armen Ra
and Eyck, Carolina.
At least squinting really hard I think I can.
So far there hasn't been decent credits under the photo at the sources.
I know Rob Schwimer is there somewhere, maybe off stage right.
and more theremin playing going at Disney Hall.
But I don't know who the thereminist was, maybe Carolina. Any one know?
From Orange County Register
Classical Life by Tim Mangan
http://blogs.ocregister.com/mangan/archives/2007/05/chaotic_and_casual_stalin.html
""
Popov's suite to the early sound documentary, “Komsomol: Patron of Electrification,” which uses voices, a [b]theremin[/b] as well as large orchestra, showed a strong creative voice as well, this one with a penchant for Ravelian orchestration and a skill for rhythmic drive matching Shostakovich's and Prokofiev's. As a concert piece (it was heard in its North American premiere Friday) it may not quite work – the musical non-logic tracing the ups and downs of an unseen film, following its nose, so to speak.
""
""
SUITE FROM KOMSOMOL: PATRON OF ELECTRIFICATION
Gavriil Popov
Composed: 1933
Length: c. 18 minutes
Orchestration: piccolo, flute, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet (= baritone saxophone), soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, bells, cymbals, snare drum, tam-tam, tambourine, triangle), celesta, 2 harps, theremin, strings, 2 sopranos, and baritone
First Los Angeles Philharmonic performances (North American premiere)
[...]
A top film editor of the 1920s, Shub perfected the techniques of "compilation" film, notably in the masterpiece The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (1927). KShE marked a new departure. In this pioneering documentary, one of the earliest Soviet sound films, Shub shot a contemporary chronicle of the progress of establishing electricity across the Soviet nation, a struggle spearheaded by the Komsomol (the Young Communist League). Direct sound recording and dubbed sound were combined with the symphonic music Popov scored for the film. The opening sequence - an "overture" that corresponds to the first movement of Popov's Suite - takes place in a studio where a musical performance is seen being recorded. Appropriately, the performance features a theremin, an electronic instrument invented in Russia in the 1920s. In his score, Popov offset the unusual sound of the electric theremin with human voices of soprano and tenor.
- Laurel E. Fay is Scholar in Residence for Shadow of Stalin.
""
http://wdch.laphil.c...
and more theremin playing going at Disney Hall.
But I don't know who the thereminist was, maybe Carolina. Any one know?>>
I beleve that was Charles Richard Lester. He wrote an account of his experience on Levnet.
Andy
Glad he ended up in that concert series after all, good reason to leave the 10 theremin event to do this one.
How fun and challenging it must be to play with an orchestra, hope they left the theremin plenty of room.
thanks Andy!
if you find any photos of him playing the Popov piece please toss them in here.
obviously we have to paste together the news about this event ourselves... pity it, deserves more press.
Posted it in a new thread:
http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?F=1&T=2640&cmd=p&p=1
No luck yet with pictures or details on CRL and the performance of the Popov film music... but looking!
The first clip (http://www.publicrad...) is a short interview with Steven M. Martin, Dorit Chrysler, Lara Wickes and Dalit Warshaw on the day before the show.
The second clip (http://www.publicrad...) is an even shorter vox pop after the show, with a recording of Good Vibrations from the show in the background.
""
By Alan Rich
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
[...]
[b]Positive Vibrations[/b]
I cannot find enough words of praise for the Philharmonic management for the outlay of imagination, and its realization in special projects like these “Shadow of Stalin” concerts and the “Minimalist Jukebox” of fond memory. They convey the message that the Philharmonic exists as a positive force in creating a culturally aware, informed public. The success has been overwhelming. You could have argued in the first year at Disney Hall that people were being lured by the new hall. Now it is four years later, and you should have seen the crowd on May 25 for a concert of excerpts from two Shostakovich operas and some other grinding Soviet stuff — by no measure an easy-listening program. You couldn’t get near the place; the crowd was mixed in age; at the end, they stayed to cheer their collective heads off — not dash out to grab a taxi as in New York.
The concerts themselves were put together with high imagination. It was a nice touch to have an old, original art-nouveau theremin on the stage, standing beside the one that was actually performed upon, during Gavriil Popov’s Komsomol Patron of Electrification. (I’m sorry to have missed “Pravda,” the all-nighter, with the orchestra of 10 theremins, but I had a note from my doctor.) There were valuable film clips, and a fabulous climax with a complete screening of the Eisenstein masterpiece Alexander Nevsky with Prokofiev’s music performed live by Salonen and the Philharmonic, energized by the screen over their heads. Is there a more spine-crushing sequence in all film sound than those crashes of Prokofiev’s motoric, propulsive music in Nevsky against the bodies and steel of Eisenstein’s opposing armies? And wasn’t it further amazing to hear the splendor of that horrific noise resounding in Disney?
I wrote about Popov in 2004, at the appearance on disc of his one unadulterated symphonic work before Stalin’s ax fell, a First Symphony lasting some 50 minutes; I still hope to hear a proper live performance. The film score, as its title suggests, was somewhat more unruly in style, but there are flashes of a lyric style of considerable depth. Of the major musical talents that emerged during the time of Stalin and then fought to emerge from his shadow, Popov’s throttled genius constitutes a Russian tragedy all its own.
""
Not to mention Lev Termin's throttled genius.
Precious little said about them theremins,
but it was at least mentioned. That's hope giving.
[img]http://online.wsj.co...[/img]
http://online.wsj.co...
http://www.carolina-eyck.de/ENGLISH/indexE.html
Clicking on the link [i]>>> actuel >>> latest news[/i] opens a window with an outside shot of the hall, and a shot of the other nine thereminists taken after the performance.
Clicking on either of those images leads to a third picture, of the performance itself, with all ten performers visible.