Here am I again with another sad news. This time it is a person in shadow. Not famous, very modest, however very important for the theremin history. Lev Dmitrievich Korolev, a Russian engineer, died on the orthodox Easter, in the age 81. He was the main theremin builder in Russia since 1950s.
Lev Korolev build theremins all his life, until his last days. His theremins were played by the best Russian theremin performer in the past, Konstantin Kovalsky. Later, Kovalsky realized the visualisation for pitch indication. The voice of the Korolev's theremins was very nice and the instruments were reliable. It was a model with the volume pedal and knobs for the articulation. However in his later Lev Korolev combined both systems: pedal and antennae volume control.
I used to play Koralev's instruments when I played in the Orchestra of Electronic Music Instruments in 1983-1984. Here is the picture from that time.
Thank to Lev Dmitrievich for his contribution to theremin development.
Lydia Kavina
