Us Conductors

Locked in a cabin, on a ship bound for Leningrad, Lev Termen types a letter to Clara, his ‘one true love’. He recalls his early years as a scientist, inventing the musical theremin and other electric marvels, and the Kremlin’s dream that these creations could help infiltrate capitalism itself. Instead, Manhattan infiltrated Termen – he fell in love with the city’s jazz clubs and speakeasies, and with Clara, a beautiful young violinist. When Termen’s spy games fall apart, he returns to a changed home: exiled to a Siberian gulag, only his wits and his love for Clara – passing through the ether like the theremin’s song – are able to keep him alive.