Once
Donald Gabor had established his major LP-label Remington, in 1950,
he was the man who exploited its growing catalog to the full. Not
only by changing and improving the covers in order to give the records
a new appeal and thus stimulating the sales, but also by releasing
the same recordings on other labels like Merit, Etude, Webster, Plymouth
and Masterseal. These labels are already listed in the September 1953
Schwann Lp Catalogue. 'The Long Player, the other important record
guide, only listed the Remington recordings.
Another
way to stimulate sales of his classical recordings was by producing
series aiming at specific target groups: children, students, educators
and collectors. This idea materialized in a special series like 'Young
Violinist's Edition' supervised by Theodore and Alice Pahkus,
but also by the 'Music Plus!- series, edited by famous Dr. Sigmund
Spaeth.
Right from the
start, Don Gabor wanted that Remington
was a label to be reckoned with. He not only saw the necessity of
quality artwork for the covers, but found that the liner notes were
important as well. In the first year there were lists of available
recordings printed on the back of the covers. But soon informative
liner notes, mostly written by noted critics and journalists (and
supposedly in some cases by Don Gabor's cousin George Curtiss), explained
the music. A reviewer for early rleases was Herman Neuman.
When the looks
of the covers improved Gabor hired famous critics and musicologists
like Dr. Sigmund Spaeth, John W. Freeman and Irving Kolodin,
along with other writers and music critics who were either newcomers
or already had established their names in the world of newspapers,
magazines and the recording industry: 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 and Jay S. Harrison. Some wrote
the liner notes for one specific release, others took responsibility
for several albums.
Despite the valuable and professional work of these writers, sometimes
their names would not appear on a cover and often the liner notes
were replaced by listings of other Remington records accompanied by
quotes from critics and reviewers. This was especially the case when
Remington records had become a commodity of department stores and
petrol stations and the label had lost its credibility with the serious
collector and reviewer.
Dr. Sigmund Spaeth, musicologist
(April 10, 1885, Philadelphia - November 12, 1965, New York), started
of as a folklorist collecting American songs. He published his findings
in 'Read 'Em and Weep' and 'Weep Some More, My Lady'. He is also the
author of 'History of Popular Music in America', 'The Common Sense
of Music', 'The Importance of Music', and 'Stories Behind the World's
Greatest Music'. He was one of the composers who wrote the music for
the movies 'Show Boat' and 'The Trespasser', and he wrote the score
for 'The Magic Flame', all films made when the talkie was launched.
He appeared in the movie 'Frankie and Johnnie'.
Dr. Spaeth is quoted on the back of several Remington-covers: 'Across
the country, Remington's low priced long play classical high fidelity
records are staging a full scale cultural invasion.'
At 65 Dr. Spaeth
wrote the liner notes for several Remington recordings. An example
is R-199-87 with Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and 1812 Festival
Overture performed by the Austrian Symphony Orchestra conducted by
Kurt Wöss. He also wrote the liner notes for the record "Bartók
plays Bartók", R-199-94.
On Masterseal MSLP 5008 are Spaeth's notes for Beethoven's Symphony
No. 5 and Schubert's Symphony No. 8 conducted by Kurt Wöss.
Note: No Remington disc with this coupling conducted by Wöss
could be found. Beethoven's Fifth was released on a 10" disc
(R-149-9) with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra conducted by Hans
Wolf and Schubert Eighth was originally a recording with conductor
H. Arthur Brown (R-149-15). The name Wöss seems a convenient
substitute, especially when Brown had fallen from grace.
He also wrote
the liner notes for the Masterseal release of Scheherazade with Kurt
Wöss, and his notes from Remington releases were reprinted on various
other Masterseal albums.
Before the exploitation of the full Masterseal catalogue, Don Gabor
had asked Sigmund Spaeth to write introductions to various well known
compositions for the Remington Music Plus!-series. Dr. Spaeth read
his own commentaries and introductions which were recorded and put
at the end of each record side explaining the history and form of
the compositions, or as the cover states:
This is a special recording in the series Music Plus,
selected by Sigmund Spaeth whose voice is heard in recorded
comments on each number. These comments appear on additional
bands towards the center on each side. For home use it is
suggested that the music always be played first, after which
Dr. Spaeth's remarks can peruse a second hearing and be reviewed
from time to time as desired. For schools, colleges, clubs
and broadcasts the introductory material should naturally
preface the playing of each selection, adding the printed
backgrounds if needed. In order to simplify such public performances,
an accurate timetable is appended, covering the Spaeth comments
as well as the music itself.
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There are twenty
recordings in Volume I. Whether there was also a Volume II is not
sure.
Volume 1 (The labels bear the reference numbers MP-100-1 to MP-100-20):
Brahms: Symph. No. 1 - MP-100-1 - H. Arthur Brown
Beethoven: Symph. 6 - MP-100-2 - Kurt Wöss
Dvorak: Symphony No. 5 (9) - MP-100-3 - George Singer, conductor
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream - MP-100-4 - H. Arthur
Brown
Tchaikovsky: Festival Overture + Nutcracker - MP-100-5 - Kurt
Wöss
Johann Strauss: Overtures and Waltzes - MP-100-6 - conductor
Kurt Wöss
Franck: Symphony in D - MP-100-7 - Hans Wolf conducting
Haydn: Military + 88th Symphony - MP-100-8 - conductors Fritz
Weidlich and Paul Walter
Wagner: Arias + Piano Sonata - MP-100-9 - Astrid Varnay and
pianist Felicitas Karrer
Rimsky-Korsakov: Capricio Espagnol + Coq d'Or - MP-100-10 -
with conductors Ernst Nehlich and George Singer
Debussy: Prélude a l'apres midi d'un faune + Preludes - MP-100-11
- Jean Morel conducting; Edward Kilenyi, pianist
Schubert: Moments Musicaux + Symph 8 - MP-100-12 - Jörg
Demus piano; H. Arthur Brown. conductor
Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik + Symphony No. 35 - MP-100-13
-Fritz Weidlich and Hans Wolf conducting
Liszt: Hungarian Fantasia + Les Preludes - MP-100-14 - Edward
Kilenyi/Felix Prohaska and George Singer
Chopin: Waltzes - MP-100-15 - Edward Kilenyi, piano
Verdi: Rigoletto - MP-100-16 - Erasmo Ghiglia
Schumann: Piano Concerto - MP-100-17 - Céliny Chaillez-Richez
piano, Robert Heger conducting
Handel: Messiah - MP-100-18 - Joseph Messner, conductor
Bach: Prelude No. 15 & 16 + Partita 6 - MP-100-19 - Jörg
Demus, pianist
Richard Strauss: Don Juan + Rosenkavalier Waltzes - MP-100-20
- H. Arthur Brown, conductor
Most records in this series were released in 1953 (Nos. 1, 13, 16
and 18 were released in July 1953).
Sigmund Spaeth
also wrote notes for regular releases:
R-199-94 - Bartok plays Bartok - Bela Bartok at the piano
Palace M-601 -Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Overture, Grieg:
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, said to be conducted by Kurt Baumann, but these
are in fgact the recordings conducted by Kurt Wöss and H. Arthur
Brown, respectively.
John
W, Freeman
Born in New York City in 1928, John W. Freeman graduated at the Phillips
Academy (Andover) and received a BA in English at Yale College. He followed
private studies in theory, counterpoint, harmony and piano. He is a
composer of chamber music and vocal chamber music. Known is also his
Suite for Wind Orchestra which was recorded under Johannes Somary. He
co-authored 'The Golden Horseshoe', 'Toscanini', wrote 'Metropolitan
Opera Stories of the Great Operas' (Vol.1 & 2) and translated Guiseppe
Tarozzi's 'Puccini'. He was a music critic and a reviewer for Opera
News and, from 1960 until 2000, served as an Associate Editor of that
magazine. In 1993 he was awarded the Belmont Medal by the Metropolitan
Opera Guild.
John
W. Freeman wrote the liner notes for:
R-199-3 Grieg: Piano Concerto - Felicitas Karrer, pianist /
Kurt Wöss
R-199-7 Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 - Austrian Symphony / Kurt
Wöss
R-199-20 Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto - Michèle Auclair
/ Kurt Wöss
R-199-96/3 John W. Freeman is probably the author of the liner
notes for the 2 Lp release of Mozart's Requiem conducted by Jpseph
Messner
R-199-103 Verdi: Rigoletto Vocal Highlights - Ivan Petroff
R-199-104 Puccini: La Bohème Vocal Highlights
R-199-105/2 Verdi: Requiem - Austrian Symphony / Gustav Koslik
R-199-106 Dvorak: Slavonic Dances Op. 46 - Austrian Symphony
/ George Singer
R-199-111/2 Rossini: Stabat Mater - Salzburg Mozarteum / Josef
Messner
R-199-143 Recital and Encores - Pierre Luboshutz and Genia
Nemenoff
R-199-160 Saint-Saëns: Carnival of Animals, Tchaikovsky: Swan
Lake - RIAS Symphony / Jonel Perlea
R-199-166 Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 and Todtentanz - Edward
Kilenyi, RIAS Symphony / Jonel Perlea
R-199-170 Léhar: The Merry Widow, Strauss: One Night in Venice
- RIAS Orchestra / Gerhard Becker
R-199-178/3 Verdi: Aida (the complete recording) - Franco Capuana
R-199-192 Millöcker: The Beggar Student - RIAS Symphony Orchestra
/ Gerhard Becker
Paris Album 12 Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies, Brahms Hungarian
Dances - Karl Rucht
Masterseal MSLP 5010 Mendelssohn: Midsummernightsdream, Debussy:
Afternoon of a faun - Kurt Wöss, but these works are probably
conducted by H. Arthur Brown and Jean Morel respectively.
Masterseal
MSLP 5014 Dvorak: New World Symphony - Austrian Symphony / George
Singer. It is not clear if the same liner notes had already been printed
on the back of later editions of R-199-4 (Dvorak's 5th Symphony
(9th) with George Singer) and replaced the notes written earlier by
Herman Neuman.)
Herman Neuman (Conductor,
Director of Music of WNYG,
Municipal Broadcasting System of New York City) wrote the notes for
the early release
of R-199-4 of Dvorak's 5th Symphony (9th) - George Singer
Irving
Kolodin:
Irving Kolodin (January 21, 1908 - April 29, 1988) was the prolific
author who is known for 'The Opera Omnibus', 'The New Guide to Recorded
Music', 'The Guide to Long Playing Records' and many other reference
books on music and records. He is also known for his writings for
the RCA-label and in particular for the Rubinstein Chopin-recordings.
For the Musirama production of Mascagni's 'Cavaleria Rusticana'
conducted by George Sebastian (with soloists, chorus and orchestra
of the Teatro la Fenice), it was Irving Kolodin who wrote the liner
notes (R-199-175/2).
He also wrote the notes for the release of Prokofiev's 2nd Piano
Concerto with Jorge Bolet and Thor Johnson (R-199-182)
which was a première recording (apart from the 3rd only the 5th and
occasionally the 1st concertos were played).
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Irving
Kolodin at the end of the nineteen forties.
(Photograph courtesy William
P. Gottlieb)
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On
many a Remington cover a quote from an article by Irving Kolodin in
the Saturday Review is printed:
"Listen to the Remington-sponsored discs in a rapidly growing catalogue
selling at less than half of what is considered 'normal' LP rates.
Remington is worth every penny asked."
Louis
Biancolli is known for his collaboration with Kirsten Flagstad
which resulted in 'The Flagstad Manuscript'. Other books of his hand
are:
'The Mozart Handbook' (1975), 'Masters of the Orchestra from Bach
to Prokofiev' (1969) and 'The Analytical Concert Guide' (Doubleday),
and he was the co-author, with Robert Bagar, of 'The Concert Companion'.
He was a music critic for The New York World-Telegram and Sun.
Biancolli wrote the liner notes for
R-199-124 Keyboard Masters of Old Vienna (Schubert, Mozart,
Lanner, Strauss) - Hilde Somer, pianist
R-199-126 Kreisler Encores played by violinist Michèle Auclair
and pianist Otto Schulhof - coupled with Ballet Music by Delibes (excerpts
from Naila, Coppelia and Sylvia performed by the Austrian Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Max Schönherr
R-199-129 Bizet L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1, Nicolai: Overture
to The Merry Wives of Windsor, Mendelssohn: Overture to Ruy Blas
R-199-130 Borodin: Overture and Polovetsian Dances from Prince
Igor, Mussorgsky: A Night on Bald Mountain, Rimsky-Korsakoff: Capricio
Espagnol - Austrian Symphony / Gustav Koslik
R-199-135 Mozart: Sonata in A Major, Haydn: Sonatas Nos. 1
and 7 - Leonid Hambro, piano
R-199-159 Debussy: La boite a joujoux (The Box of Toys) - RIAS
Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jonel Perlea
Edward
Tatnall Canby (musician and musicologist, author of numerous
articles for Harper's Bazar and Audio Magazine) wrote liner notes
for:
R-199-79 featuring cellist Gaspar Cassado in Haydn's Concerto
No. 1, Op. 101 coupled with Mozart's Symphony No. 35, K 385, both
conducted by Hans Wolf.
R-199-84 Albert Spalding (Violinist) and Ernst von Dohnanyi
(Pianist) perform Johannes Brahms: Sonata No. 1 and Hungarian Dances
Nos. 8, 9 and 17
Betty
Reinman
R-199-213 Schumann: Symphony No. 2 - RIAS Orchestra / Otto
Matzerath
R-199-203 Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini, Theme and Variations
- RIAS Symphony Orchestra / Anatole Fistoulari
R-199-209 Hindemith: Matthis der Mahler, Schumann: Manfred
Overture, Von Weber: Euryanthe Overture - Hamburg Philharmonic
Orchestra / Leopold Ludwig
Max
de Schauensee (Music Editor Philadelphia Evening Bulletin)
wrote the programnotes for:
R-199-138 Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 - Zoltan Fekete
R-199-176 Berlioz: Symphony Fantastique - RIAS Symphony Orchestra
/ George Sebastian
Irving
Sablosky, music critic of Chicago Daily News is the author
of 'American Music' and 'What They Heard: Music in America, 1852-1881'.
He wrote the notes for Sari
Biro's recording of Contemporary Piano Composers (Bartok,
Kodaly, Kabalevsky) on R-199-133.
Sheldon
Soffer
R-199-174 Wagnerian Favorites - Georges Sebastian
Jerome
D. Boehm (Bohm)
R199-165 Schumann: Carnaval, Chopin: Short Pieces - Edward
Kilenyi
R-199-180 Schumann: Symphony No. 1 ("Spring") - Otto Matzerath
R-199-187 Tchaikovsky: Symphonty No. 2 - Cincinnati Symphony
Orchestra / Thor Johnson
R-199-197 Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1 - Conrad Hansen / Wolfgang
Sawallisch (On Masterseal MSLP a long paragraph of the original liner
notes was left out.)
R-199-201 Sibelius: 5th Symphony - RIAS Symphony Orchestra
/ Jussy Jalas
R-199-207 Enesco: Rumanian Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2, Villa-Lobos:
Choros No. 6 - Georges Enesco and Heitor Villa-Lobos
R-199-208 Delibes: Sylvia and Coppelia - Georges Sebastian
Bertram
Stanleigh (1921-2003) started as a music critic and ultimately
moved on to work at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) before retiring in 1986. He passed away on January 25th 2003.
He wrote the liner notes for:
R-199-164 Brahms: Concerto No. 2 - Edward Kilenyi /
Jonel Perlea
Herbert
Weinstock (1905-1971), author of 'Music as an Art' and
of 'Tchaikovsky, Handel and Chopin: the Man and His Music' wrote the
notes for:
R-199-139 Songs of Spain - Lydia Ibarondo and pianist Miguel
Sandoval
R-199-140 Baritone Mack Harrell: Recital and Encores, with
Brooks Smith at the piano
R-199-171 Carlos Montoya
Jay
S. Harrison, critic of the New York Herald Tribune. His
writings can be found on:
R-199-136 Scarlatti, Bach and Couperin by harpsichordist Sylvia
Marlowe
R-199-202 Couperin by Sylvia Marlowe, harpsichord
Jack
Urbont:
R-199-177 Wagnerian Overtures - RIAS Symphony / Georges Sebastian
R-199-183 Offenbach/Rosenthal: Offenbachiana - RIAS Symphony
Orchestra / Manuel Rosenthal
R-199-188 Brant, Glanville-Hicks, Rudhyar - Jonel Perlea
Norman Gorin:
R-199-181 Light French Opera Overtures by Suppé, Auber, Adam
and Maillart. RIAS Symphony conducted by Gerhard Becker
Arthur
Darack, music critic of the Cincinnati Enquirer, wrote
the program notes for Dvorak's 4th (8th) Symphony on R-199-168
- Thor Johnson.
Alec
Templeton wrote the notes for his own recording of Improvisations
on R-199-158. Note: There is no auther mentioned on
the cover of Gershwin's Concerto in F.
Rudolf A. Bruil - June, 2003
