It is said that Gabor would take any tape he could lay his hands on to release on his label(s). When beginning building a catalogue such an attitude would be quite understandable. And since the record business was no big business at all (unlike today where anybody can start recording and releasing and can achieve success more easily, thanks to the more accessible digital recording equipment), any item that would enlarge the catalogue was welcome. It seems that Don Gabor knew quite well that the releases with Albert Spalding, Simon Barere, George Enesco, Ernst von Dohnanyi, a.o. were of value in 1950 and 1952. If he also saw the importance of recordings with other artists like, for instance violinist Gérard Poulet, is questionable, because most of the time he only received the lists with recordings which were proposed by Marcel Prawy. The importance of the releases with Michèle Auclair were of course clear as Michèle made her American debut in 1950 in Boston with Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony.

The canisters with the tapes were labeled and packed in Vienna (and later also in Berlin) and were shipped to the United States for mastering. Many times the handwriting on the list or the canister's label was not very clear. That is why the recording of Schubert's Trout-Quintet by Günther Breitenbach, Nikolaus Hubner (spelled Nicholaus), Johannes Krump, Walter Panhoffer (spelled Panhofer) and Willy Boskovsky, together "The Boskovsky Quintette" was named BOSHOVSKY QUINTETTE, the 'Austrian' k being read as h. There were more of those mistakes.

Don Gabor wanted to create a diverse catalogue like the big labels did. He did not restrict himself to violinists and pianists but also the field of song and opera was present in the names of Rosette Anday, Kurt Baum, Karin Branzell, Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, Ivan Petroff, Ettore Ghiglia, Elisabeth Wysor, Mona Paulee, Frances Schimenti, Anne Roselle, Christina Carroll, and later also Oralia Dominguez, Ettore Bastianini, Franco Capuana, to name a few.

When conductor Laszlo Halasz left the New York City Opera in 1952 to be an independent conductor, Don Gabor immediately asked him to be his recording director, a title that was mentioned in Halasz' program notes wherever he conducted. In the USA Laszlo Halasz supervised many recordings with Thor Johnson, Alec Templeton and Jorge Bolet and harpsichordist Sylvia Marlowe. In Austria he supervised the recordings with Albert Spalding, in Italy recording operatic repertoire and in Germany with a host of conductors. In Berlin a serious collaboration of Gabor's company with Bertelsmann was at hand. From 1953 on recordings with a better quality were made, especially those made with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra. This collaboration gave way to the 3rd label with the improved sound quality.

The new sound boasted of multiple microphone placement and the improved sound of the productions was given the name "MUSIRAMA" and the label showed the image of atoms as they were visualized in those days.
The critics and reviewers were rather positive about the new looks and noticed the sonic improvement of the new Remington MUSIRAMA recordings. The back of each MUSIRAMA release featured appropriate liner notes written by well known critics, journalists and musicologists like Dr. Sigmund Spaeth, John W. Freeman, Irving Kolodin, Louis Biancolli, Betty Reinman, Max de Schauensee, Irving Sablosky, Jerome Boehm (most of the time spelled Bohm), Bertram Stanleigh, Herbert Weinstock, Jack Urbont, Sheldon Soffer, Jay S. Harrison and Arthur Darack.

Well chosen and abbreviated quotations from reviewers also adorned the back covers Furthermore an educational series entitled 'Music Plus! was conceived with Sigmund Spaeth. And to add even more to the importance of the label Gabor and Halasz devised with Theodore and Alice Pashkus an inspirational series for young violin students and amateurs: The Young Violinist's Edition.

Advertisements accompanied the introduction of the new MUSIRAMA sound. And as positive response increased, the temptation was great to adorn the covers of older recordings with the distinguishing MUSIRAMA emblem at the lower right corner, even if these had not been recorded in the new multiple microphone technique. In certain cases new covers for these old recordings were designed. This may have increased sales of these older recordings in the beginning, but serious buyers quickly must have found out that several older recordings were re-released with a higher catalog number and designated as a MUSIRAMA recording. Examples are Grieg's Suites to "Peer Gynt" and Overtures of Rossini operas conducted by Vittorio Gui on R-199-142 (which had been recorded one year earlier). The overture to "L'ingano felice" had been released on R-199-123 together with music by Strauss, Korngold, Puccini, Cherubini and Verdi. But now only Rossini overtures filled R-199-142. The recording of Zoltán Fekete conducting Bruckner's Symphony No. 3 was actually from 1950 but was presented as a MUSIRAMA recording. Much later more early recordings were adorned with the MUSIRAMA label: Barere's Liszt, "Polovetsian Dances" from Prince Igor, Beethoven's Third Symphony with Fritz Busch, and so on and so forth.

What the quality of the early Austrian sound recordings originally must have been can be heard on reissues of original tapes in simulated stereo on the Austrian label Vibraton of performances by Fritz Busch, Kurt Wöss and other artists. Comparison of Alexander Jenner's rendition of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" on Remington on R-199-10 (on older covers the name of Helmuth Rolof is mentioned), with the reissue on Vibraton VB K2008 shows that the original tapes were of rather good quality. The cutting process, the matrix production and the cheap vinyl of the Remington discs were to blame. This Vibraton disc with Jenner's Beethoven shows more or less the same sound but with practically no noise and distortion, but gives also a less chiseled piano tone because of the filtering that must have been applied when these better pressings were released in Austria. The Vibraton discs of course do profit from the vastly improved matrix production of the nineteen sixties and seventies, and they are pressed on purer vinyl. The same goes for the Vibraton releases of recordings by conductors Fritz Busch and  Kurt Wöss.

One should never forget that many recordings in the catalog date from 1950 or 1951, a mere three years after the introduction of the LP by Columbia, and that the MUSIRAMA recordings were done as early as 1953.
The stereo-tapes of "The Origin of Fire", "Pohjola's Daughter" and 8 selections from the original stereo-tape of R-199-167 were reissued by Tom Null on Varèse-Sarabande stereo LP, reference VC 81041. Although some equalization had to be applied to match the modern RIAA curve, this recording shows all too well that the original tape recordings made in 1953 by Robert Blake (Gabor's recording engineer) had a far better sound quality than was ever heard on the Remington discs. These recordings made in November 1953 were the first commercial stereo recordings issued on LP. In February 1954 it was RCA who made their first commercial stereophonic recordings.

The USA is a big territory and the company's turnover must have increased significantly. New offices were rented on 500 Fifth Avenue. And now the Remington recordings were also exported to several European countries: Belgium and The Netherlands, even after the Remington label was no longer listed in the Schwann and Long Player, they were available in the USA and Europe well after 1957.

In France Remington recordings were released on the Concerteum Label. Matrixes were supplied by Remington Records Inc. and the labels mentioned "Une production DON GABOR". The vinyl was of a finer quality than that used in the US and the records revealed a better sound quality. In Australia it was the Festival label on which Remington recordings were released, for example on CFR10-88 could be found Frieda Valenzi's recording of César Franck's "Symphonic Variations" coupled with Debussy's "Prélude a l'aprës-midi d'un faune" pressed from rather dull Australian plates made from tapes provided by Remington Records.

In France recordings were made with Georges Enesco as a conductor (of his own works with the Orchestra of the Colonne Concerts and the Paris Symphony) and as a violinist with pianist Céliny Chailley-Richez. The Sonatas for Solo Violin by Johann Sebastian Bach were recorded in New York much earlier, around 1949, on acetates.

The collaboration with Bertelsmann in Germany (starting in 1953) resulted in many MUSIRAMA-recordings made with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra. In Germany they were of course released on Bertelsmann's Phonoring. But Don Gabor wanted to release the older recordings made in Austria in Germany too. I suspect that he created his own German label named DIAMANT. The records were pressed from Remington matrixes, maybe in Germany. It is not sure if the covers were manufactured in Germany. They could have been made in the Webster plant as they were manufactured the American style. On the label was printed "Licensed by Remington Records."

The Diamant covers had a standard layout. On the front the composer, the works and the names of the performers were printed as well as a reference number for ordering the item, in German "Best. Nr." (Bestell Nummer). The back was plain, there were no liner notes.

On the Diamant label appeared Franck's Symphony in D conducted by Hans Wolf (BL 743), Astrid Varnay singing Wagner arias (BL 737) and Gaspar Cassado performing Dvorak's Cello Concerto with Kurt Wöss (BL 745)

On BL 739, Jorge Bolet and Thor Johnson performed Prokofiev's Piano Concerto Op. 16. The cover mistakingly mentioned that Johnson conducted the Austrian Symphony Orchestra instead of the Cincinnati Symphony.

Violinist Michèle Auclair in Tchaikovsky (BL738), Fritz Busch with Beethoven's Eroica (BL 741).

Symphony Fantastique (Berlioz) with Georges Sebastian in the new Musirama sound (in the USA the label with the atomic symbol) was released as BL 733 while this same recording was also released by Bertelsmann. The Diamant release was of course against the terms in the contract. Cellist Heinrich Köhler told me that there was a law suit, but he did not remember the actual cause. The releases recorded in Germany and offered in Germany on the Diamant label could have been the cause and the agreement was ended.

Wherever Laszlo Halasz went to fulfill his engagements to conduct, be it in Germany, Spain, Italy or France, recordings for the Remington MUSIRAMA label were made. In Berlin with the RIAS Symphony and pianists Edward Kilenyi and Conrad Hansen, violinist André Gabriel, and conductors Wolfgang Sawallisch, George Sebastian, Jonel Perlea, Otto Matzerath and Manuel Rosenthal. Rosenthal conducted his arrangement of Offenbach melodies called "Gaité Parisienne" with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra.

Laszlo Halasz also seized opportunities to make recordings with other orchestras and ensembles. Recordings were later also made with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra. And a complete Cosi Fan Tutte was recorded with singers Erna Hassler (soprano), Hetty Plümacher (contralto), Käthe Nentwig (soprano), Albert Weikenmeier (tenor) , Karl Hoppe (baritone) and Joseph Dunnwald conducting the Stuttgart Tonstudio Orchestra: R-199-117/3. Highlights from this recording were released on R-199-162.

In Paris, where Laszlo Halasz had engagements also and was to perform with pianist Samson François, George Enescu's Dixtuor was recorded with the composer conducting the French National Orchestra.
In Vienna where Halasz himself had made a recording of Kodaly's Suite to the Singspiel 'Hary Janos', which was released on a 10" disc (R-149-44), the now famous performances of the Beethoven and Brahms concertos with Albert Spalding were recorded under the supervision of Halasz. And Verdi's "Aida" and Puccini's "Turandot" were recorded in the "Teatro La Fenice" in Venice with Franco Capuana and strong casts. After these recordings were released the quality of the performance was immediately noticed by other labels and this led to Capuana's contract with London/Decca.

On most covers the annotation "Recorded in Europe" was printed. In those days many American companies traveled with their tape recorder practically all over Europe, from Denmark to Austria and from Berlin to Rome. At home in the US there were many restrictions imposed by the Petrillo act, restrictions concerning working hours of artists and orchestras and the fees which made the productions very costly. If one did not have the facilities to tape in Europe, existing tapes from radio broadcasts and even old tapes from the "Reichs Rundfunk Gesellschaft" which were made during World War 2, could be bought.
The annotation "Recorded in Europe" was not always a guarantee that the recording really was made in Europe. There were labels which had recorded at home in the USA, yet put "Recorded in Europe" on label and cover with the name of a so called European orchestra, or the performer was an American instrumentalist who supposedly had traveled to Europe.

In those days there was a lively trade in taped performances of all sorts of works and it happened that inferior labels acquired the same tapes of performances which were released on mayor labels or simply copied a recording of a quality label and then printed fancy names for singers, instrumentalists and conductors on labels and covers and often omitted a movement from a symphony or abbreviated the work by splicing in order to avoid that the bootleg was recognized or just because they did not have any knowledge of the composition.
Don Gabor did not follow that fashion as far as I could detect. In any case not when he managed the catalogue of his Remington label. There are however some names of artists who need further explanation.

Cover and label of Frieda Valenzi's recording of "Variations Symphoniques" of César Franck, state the name of the conductor as Jean Moreau. A conductor with that name is not known. Apparently Jean Moreau was Jean Morel, originally from France, who worked also in the USA and made several recordings with DECCA/LONDON and American Columbia. Jean Morel was also a conductor at the New York City Opera Company. When I asked Mrs. Valenzi about the conductor she could not remember facts about Jean Moreau. The handwriting on the container with the recorded tape must have been wrongly read and copied.

The soloist in Glazunov's Violin concerto on R-199-191 is André Gabriel. No data can be found about this artist. Was he an upcoming star who never made it? Was he the principal violinist of the RIAS Symphony Orchestra? Was the artist Tossy Spivakovsky? In the 1953 edition of the Remington record catalog Don Gabor announced the new Musirama recording releases. New recordings with various artists were in the making. One of these artists is violinist Tossy Spivakovsky. But his name never appeared on the Remington label. I own a couple of old Heliodor records recorded in Poland. One with violinist Wanda Wilkomirska. And there is also the Beethoven Concerto with Roman Totenberg. That means that he was traveling and performing in Europe. Known is that he performed in the early 1950s in Amsterdam in the Concertgebouw. So there was reason to suspect that André Gabriel was Roman Totenberg. Allan Evans of Arbiter Records, who interviewed Roman Totenberg extensively and prepared the 2 CD set "The Art of Roman Totenberg from Bach to Webern", confirmed that the soloist in the Remington recording is indeed Roman Totenberg. See the description on the page about the RIAS Symphony Orchestra.

Record R-199-76 mentions Hermann Schwertmann as pianist in Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor Op. 23. For many years it was not clear if Hermann Schwertmann really was the pianist as the Plymouth issue of the same tape mentions Hans Kessler as pianist. Of course people from Austria knew that Schwertmann was the pianist, but collectors often thought that a name was a pseudonym. So no information was known until several entries on the Internet could be found about a concert where Hermann Schwertmann played the piano. He is also mentioned as a teacher. Moreover his daughter, cellist Ursula Erhart-Schwertmann was mentioned on a chamber music site. The only recording of Hermann Schwertmann is this Remington R-199-76 which eventually was replaced by the technically better MUSIRAMA recording of the concerto with pianist Conrad Hansen and Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting the RIAS Symphony on Remington Musirama R-199-197.

There is a recording by The Boshovsky Sextet. This is certainly Willy Boskovsky's Sextet. The 'k' in the handwriting on the container of the tape must have been interpreted as 'h'.
The recording of pianist Frieda Valenzi playing Schumann and Brahms on Merit (another of Don Gabor's labels) has her name printed as "v. frieda" on cover and label. This prompted a record dealer and many music lovers whose brains fantasized ad lib to suggest that the artist was Etelka Freund. The container of the tape apparently was labeled "v. frieda" by someone in Austria before the tape was shipped and Gabor or an assistant must have thought that the artist was "v. frieda" and had this copied onto cover and label. It is the custom to write first the family name (or the initial of the family name) followed by the Christian name. Merit recordings were simultaneously released with Remington and Plymouth discs. The address on the cover of Merit M200-28 reads: 263 West 54th Street, New York 19, NY, the same address of the earlier Continental and Remington productions. Some Plymouth releases also carried the Merit-logo in the upper left corner.
Obviously the Valenzi-recording was obtained via Marcel Prawy and was meant to be released on the Remington label. But since Kilenyi played the same works on a Remington disc, the recording of Frieda Valenzi was only released on Merit.

This recording of Beethoven's First Symphony was released in France on the Concerteum label and as conductor the name of Holstein was mentioned. The people from Concerteum were well aware of the fact that a record with a conductor named 'X' would not be regarded as a serious release.
Whether this affair influenced Rodzinski's negotiations in a positive or negative way is not clear. In the end he was contracted by Westminster.

The covers of R-199-171 and R-199-179 (reissued on Vox Records STPL 513 430) of guitarist Carlos Montoya state "Recorded in Spain". Could be that the recordings were made when Laszlo Halasz was on tour and conducting in Barcelona, and could be that Montoya who lived in the US was vacationing in Spain at the time. One is not always sure if "Recorded in Europe" or in this case "Recorded in Spain" is in all cases correct. The recordings could have been ready tapes or new recordings. In any case the annotation "Recorded in Europe" was often an easy way to avoid questions by the officials of the union.

I do not have a copy of the other record of Carlos Montoya (R-199-134) accompanying mezzo-soprano Lydia Ibarrondo. This album most likely was recorded in the USA. In any case Ibarrondo's "Songs of Spain" (R-199-139) was recorded in the USA as she lived there. On the latter the mezzo-soprano was accompanied by Miguel Sandoval (piano), and Juan Oñatibia (txistu and tun-tun, on side 2). The selections are El vito,Del cabelo ma´s sutil, Molondron, Cancion Castellana, Cantares, La maja dolorosa. Granadina, Caminito de Avilés, Charrada, En casa del Tio Vicente, Pastores de la Sierra, Burlesca, Nostalgia, El pano, Vescos.

Cover and label of Sari Biro's recording of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" also mentions "recorded in Europe". Miss Biro lived in the United States. She traveled to Europe to concertize and made a recording of Mozart's Piano Concerto K491 in Vienna, so she could have made the Mussorgski recording then and there.