Australian Chamber Orchestra: Theremin & Beyond - Review

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Mon 12 May 2025

Featuring Carolina Eyck, theremin | Directed by Richard Tognetti


On the evening of May 12, the Australian Chamber Orchestra brought its ground-breaking program Theremin & Beyond to Brisbane’s QPAC Concert Hall - a performance that not only defied musical expectations but also invited its audience into an intimate, imaginative dialogue with an instrument as enigmatic as it is expressive: the theremin. At the centre of it all stood German virtuoso Carolina Eyck, whose mastery of this notoriously difficult instrument elevated the concert from a novelty showcase into a deeply moving artistic experience.



The theremin, invented in 1920 by Russian physicist Lev (Leon) Theremin, is the world’s first electronic musical instrument and remains one of the only instruments played without physical contact. Its tones, shaped by the proximity of a player’s hands to two metal antennas, evoke a human voice or a ghostly violin, depending on the context. Initially envisioned as a Soviet motion sensor, the theremin quickly captivated concert halls and eventually the golden age of Hollywood, where it became synonymous with otherworldly atmosphere.

But as Theremin & Beyond proved, the instrument is far more than a historical curiosity or a spooky sound effect. With Carolina Eyck at the helm, the theremin was revealed in all its poetic potential - capable of profound delicacy, soaring lyricism, and even comic absurdity.



Eyck, a former child prodigy from Berlin, began playing the theremin at the age of seven. Trained under Lydia Kavina (a relative of Leon Theremin himself), Eyck grew up surrounded by electronic music, thanks in part to her father’s synthesiser-based meditative music group. By the age of eight, she was already performing on stage, and since then, she has become the world’s foremost ambassador of the theremin. Her career includes not just performances across major classical venues but also experimental recordings like Thetis 2086, which draw sonic lines between her instrument and electronic pioneers like Aphex Twin and Suzanne Ciani. At QPAC, her musical instincts were on full display.

The concert’s narrative structure, which traced the theremin’s historical arc from its Soviet origins to its influence on pop culture, was ambitious and elegantly curated. Brett Dean’s Komarov’s 'Last Words,' a mournful evocation of the first human to die in space, opened the evening with a haunting intensity. The music, drawing from space transmissions, served as an apt metaphor for the theremin’s own signal-based voice - an eerie lament broadcast from the void.

This was followed by Mikhail Glinka’s 'The Lark,' presented in a theremin arrangement inspired by the virtuosic piano transcription by Balakirev. It’s a piece of great significance: Leon Theremin once played it for Lenin himself to demonstrate his invention. Eyck’s rendition captured the lilt and lyricism of a vocal line - a compelling reminder of her command over pitch and gesture.



From there, the orchestra moved into repertoire associated with the theremin’s early performance history. In pieces like 'The Swan' and 'Aquarium' from Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals, and Bach’s beloved 'Air' on the G String, Eyck summoned a vocal, deeply emotive tone, making a case for the theremin not as a gimmick but as a deeply expressive classical instrument. These works, once staples of Clara Rockmore (the instrument’s greatest early champion), were brought to life anew.



Perhaps the most exhilarating portion of the evening came with the world premiere of 'Hovercraft ' by Australian composer Holly Harrison. Eyck’s theremin ducked and dived through punchy string rhythms, techno-inspired grooves, and sudden tonal shifts, fully embodying the title’s surreal promise: a machine meant to skim surfaces, suddenly taking flight. Harrison’s composition embraced the theremin’s strangeness without apology, highlighting its range - from chirping electronics to operatic wails - and was met with thunderous applause.

Eyck also performed her own composition, 'Oakunar Lynntuja (Strange Birds),' part of her Fantasias series. Here, the theremin felt like a voice from another world, floating over minimalist string patterns in a piece that was as contemplative as it was haunting.

Jörg Widmann’s '180 Beats Per Minute' - a kinetic thrill ride derived from techno - provided a rhythmic counterpoint to the more atmospheric pieces. Meanwhile, Yasushi Akutagawa’s 'Triptyque' bridged the classical and contemporary with Shostakovichian drama and flair.



The evening concluded with a suite of pop and film themes, from the iconic Star Trek motif (a fitting tribute, given the theremin’s cultural associations) to the shimmering harmonics of Good Vibrations, where Eyck replaced the original’s “electro-theremin” with the real thing. Morricone’s 'The Ecstasy of Gold' and Rimsky-Korsakov’s 'Flight of the Bumblebee' brought the evening to a cinematic and virtuosic close - the orchestra and Eyck swirling in a storm of tempo, tone, and theatricality.

Ecyk throughout seemed to be sharing the joy she has with the theremin – and this was to the fore in her splendidly mischievous encore – the theme from Midsomer Murders given an “over the top” treatment by theremin and ACO.

Throughout the concert, Richard Tognetti directed the ensemble with his trademark energy and clarity, drawing out nuance and bite in equal measure. The ACO’s string section was agile and vibrant, matching Eyck’s flights of fantasy step for step.

For many in the audience, this concert was an introduction not only to the theremin but also to the depth of Carolina Eyck’s artistry. What could have been a musical sideshow became, in her hands, a deeply human experience. The theremin, famously untouchable, felt intimately connected to us, not through familiarity, but through wonder.

THEREMIN & BEYOND

Richard Tognetti Director & Violin
Carolina Eyck Theremin
Tamara-Anna Cislowska Piano
Australian Chamber Orchestra

Program

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major, BWV1068: II. Air
HOLLY HARRISON New work (World Premiere)*
JACQUES OFFENBACH Orpheus in the Underworld: Can-can
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS The Carnival of the Animals: Selections
BRETT DEAN Short Stories: IV. Komarov’s Last Words*
MIKHAIL GLINKA A Farewell to St Petersburg: X. The Lark
ERWIN SCHULHOFF Five Pieces for String Quartet
JÖRG WIDMANN 180 beats per minute (Australian Premiere)
CAROLINA EYCK Fantasias: Oakunar Lynntuja (Strange Birds) (Australian Premiere)
YASUSHI AKUTAGAWA Triptyque
BRIAN WILSON Good Vibrations
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Flight of the Bumblebee
And selections from the soundtracks to:
MIKLÓS RÓZSA’S Spellbound, ALEXANDER COURAGE’S Star Trek, ENNIO
MORRICONE’S The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and JIM PARKER’S Midsomer Murders.

Melbourne Recital Centre
Sat 17 May, 7.30pm
Mon 19 May, 7.30pm

Arts Centre Melbourne
Sun 18 May, 2.30pm

Canberra, Llewellyn Hall
Tue 20 May, 7.30pm

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