On Bertelsmann Schallplattenring 8135 a variety of Remington artists can be heard: Wolfgang Sawallisch, Alexander Jenner, Karl Rucht and Laszlo Halasz.

Rossini 'Stabat Mater' and Kodaly 'Psalmus Hungaricus' - 18 203/04 LPM

'Zigeunerweisen' (Gypsy Airs) Op.20 (Pablo de Sarasate) and 'Hejre Kati' (Jenö Hubay) on 45 RPM - 30 089 EPL and on 17 071 LPE (coupled with Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor - Borodin)

When in the September 1954 edition of High Fidelity the first Remington record with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra was reviewed, many a critical music lover was surprised to find that an orchestra of this stature was recording for Don Gabor's Remington Records. The RIAS Symphony (Symphonieorchester) had actually been Ferenc Fricsay's orchestra and, since 1948, had been molded and shaped by this great Hungarian conductor into an excellently sounding and performing group of musicians. By 1953 the orchestra had already made recordings for the Deutsche Grammophon label and was going to make many more. What were the circumstances leading up to the appearance of the RIAS orchestra on Remington Records?

In Berlin, on the 7th of February 1946, the "Drahtfunk im Amerikanischen Sektor" (DIAS) is founded. Initially the programs are broadcast via the telephone cable. But as of September of that same year the programs are being broadcast over the air, and DIAS is renamed RIAS (Radio In The American Sector/Radio im Amerikanischem Sektor). This radio station is in need of an orchestra for broadcasting music programs.

An early image of Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt and "his" NWDR Symphony Orchestra. Edited image from the cover of the recording of Dvorak's New World Symphony - Telefunken LE 6505 from 1954.

After World War II in all regions ("Länder") of Germany existing orchestras are being regrouped and new orchestras are founded on the instigation of the Allied Forces which are in control of public life and many institutions.
In Hamburg 'das Sinfonieorchester des Nordwestdeutschen Rundfunks' with conductor Hans-Schmidt-Isserstedt is founded. In Stuttgart the new orchestra is the Symphony Orchestra of the South-West Radio (SWR, Südwestfunk). In Bavaria it is the Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio - just to mention a few.
In Berlin it is the 'RIAS Symphonie Orchester', founded on the 15th of November 1946. It is the radio orchestra which has its home in the American Sector of Berlin and it is financed by the Americans. After nearly a year of selecting musicians and rehearsing, the first concert is given in the Titania Palast and the conductor is a man called Walter Sieber. Some time later Sergiu Celebidache conducts an all Gershwin program which immediately puts the orchestra on the map.

This picture of a RIAS microphone was taken from Europäischer Phonoklub, Opera 3112 release: Adolf Wreege mit seinem RIAS -Orchester. The picture was edited and enhanced by R.A.B.

Director of the classical music division of the radio station is Elsa Schiller who later became the famous recording producer for Deutsche Grammophon. She persuades Ferenc Fricsay to come to Berlin. Ferenc Fricsay not only has a taste for the works of a variety of classical composers - and especially Beethoven and Mozart - but he also is the man who establishes a modern repertory with compositions of Bartók, Berg, Blacher, Hindemith, Kodaly, Schönberg, Strawinsky, Von Einem, Egk and Tcherepnin. And thus the RIAS Symphony Orchestra also becomes the exemplary institution of what was then regarded as contemporary music. No wonder that works of most of these composers can be found on early recordings of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft label.

Fricsay works with pianists Géza Anda, Claudio Arrau, Walter Gieseking, Friedrich Gulda, Margit Weber, and Clara Haski; with violinists Yehudi Menuhin, Wolfgang Schneiderhan and Tibor Varga; with violoncellist Pierre Fournier, and singers like Maria Stader, Rita Streich, Josef Greindl, Ernst Haefliger and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

An important performance in the early days of the orchestra is on August 23, 1949, when Yehudi Menuhin plays the solo part in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, Fricsay conducting. This performance by a Jewish violinist just four years after the war and of all places in the former center of the NAZI government, was regarded as very controversial and received a lot of criticism. But by performing in the destructed city of Berlin, Yehudi Menuhin sent a strong message to the world: We have to look forward. This historical performance was a radio broadcast which was later issued on Lp No. 29 in the Italian series produced by Longanesi Periodici "I grandi Concerti".

The RIAS logo designed by Rolf Schloesser as it was printed on the cover of Kilenyi's recording of works by Franz Liszt.

However, when the Americans realize that their RIAS Symphony Orchestra is in fact the only orchestra which is subsidized by the American government - subsidizing an orchestra is simply not done in the USA - they stop financing the orchestra.
New financial resources have to be found and cuts in the budget have to be made. That is why by 1954 Fricsay is forced to give up his post of principal conductor because the orchestra is simply not in a position to pay his salary. Fricsay takes up the post of conductor of the Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio (Sinfonieorchester/Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks) in Munich which was founded by Eugen Jochum in 1949.
Several musicians leave the RIAS orchestra and those who remain get paid only for rehearsal time and performances.
The only way to keep the RIAS Symphony Orchestra alive is by hiring guest conductors and by earning extra money through commercial recordings with record companies. One of these is the Hannover-based Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft who continue to make recordings with the orchestra. Strange as it may seem, there is another record company who makes use of the RIAS Symphony and that is Don Gabor's Remington Records Inc. from New York. Gabor was tipped by government people about the possibility to hire the orchestra by the hour and making quality recordings for relatively low fees. An important factor is that every dollar is worth a lot in Germany.

Fact is that Don Gabor does not buy ready tapes, and in no case tapes of obscure and illegal origin, as so many always suspected. In those early years of the long playing record, Gabor's Remington Records is one of the largest (if not the largest) independent label with a significant turnover. He is well able to hire this genuine and well trained, virtuoso orchestra of professional musicians. Furthermore able conductors and soloists are hired.

The recordings are made under the supervision of Laszlo Halasz who, after a disagreement with the board of directors, left the New York City Opera Company in 1952, the company he himself had founded in 1943. Although Halasz was involved in earlier Remington productions, he now officially is Recording Director of Remington Records. At the same time many a recording is supervised by Donald Gabor himself as well.
Heinrich Köhler is principal cellist of the RIAS Symphony Orchestra from as early as the season of 1949/50 and he stays with the orchestra until 1995. He witnesses the artistic rise of the orchestra under Fricsay. Mr. Köhler remembers the many recording sessions for Deutsche Grammophon, and of course also those for the Remington label. He recalls that in a three hour session at least one hour ready music was to be recorded on tape. This tight schedule led at least at one time to a more or less hilarious happening with conductor Günther Wand. Mr. Köhler recalls:

"In a three hour session at least one hour ready music should be recorded on tape. Unknown conductors acquitted with difficulty their tasks. At one time Günter Wand stood in front of the orchestra; already at that time he was a feared perfectionist. He explained a lot of the music while rehearsing and he shaped every detail. (Even at his old age his interpretations are mind-blowing.) When Günter Wand wanted to record the same passage again because he wanted a better take, recording director Laszlo Halasz had enough of it and said: "Hey man, we already have that on tape". Günther Wand put down his baton, took his hat and coat, and left. The recording sessions for Remington records had a rather business like character. For example a work was played through and recorded in the same session and the title was ready: The next piece please!"

Halasz knew of course many colleagues and performing artists. In collaboration with Bertelsmann Schallplattenring he hires a host of able conductors and soloists. Some are not well known like conductor Karl Rucht. The name of violinist André Gabriel cannot be traced and connected to a specific artist. Andre Gabriel apears to be a pseudonym, but for whom? For Roman Totenberg? This is not certain. As Don Gabor announced in the 1953 Remington catalog that there are plans to make recordings with Tossy Spivakovsky, he can be the soloist in the recording of Glazunov's Violin Concerto on R-199-191..
Relatively unknown at the time are Wolfgang Sawallisch, Jonel Perlea, Manuel Rosenthal, George Sebastian, Georg Ludwig Jochum (brother of famous Eugen Jochum), Otto Matzerath, and Jussi Jalas (the sun in law of Jean Sibelius, who had married daughter Margareta). The only real veterans are Anatole Fistoulari and Leopold Ludwig, one could say.
After the first sessions have resulted in satisfying recordings, Laszlo Halasz - like so many other artists and conductors - signs Heinrich Köhler's scrapbook.

With best wishes to a great orchestra and hope for a long and happy association - Sincerely, Laszlo Halasz, Febr. 20 1954.

The recordings are all in the new MUSIRAMA presentation except for one which is not presented as such and that is the new recording of Rimsky-Korsakoff's Scheherazade. On Remington R-199-11 originally an early recording of the Viennese Symphonic Society Orchestra conducted by H. Arthur Brown (founder of the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor from 1948 till 1958) is released. When problems arise between Brown and the union, Gabor stops the pressings of Brown's Remington recordings and some of these are shifted to the Plymouth label. Now it is time to acquire a new Scheherazade recording as no record label can do without this best selling score. The new recording is the one with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra under Karl Rucht.

For a long time it was not certain if this was the same as the Urania 7133 (=Urania 7-19) recording with 'Symphony Orchestra of Radio Berlin'. This recording was already listed in 'The Long Player' of December 1953 while the Remington with the RIAS Orchestra under Rucht was released in the following year. Ernst Lumpe (who investigates many recordings bootlegged by Eli Oberstein and released on Allegro-Royale) compared the Urania Scheherazade to the Remingron RIAS and found that these are different recordings. Apparently to keep the appealing Steinweiss cover as it originally was used for the Brown recording, no MUSIRAMA emblem was printed on it in the right lower corner as this would have spoiled it. Also the label does not have the MUSIRAMA lettering.
Rucht and the RIAS Symphony give a far better rendition than H. Arthur Brown does with the orchestra from Vienna - not only because the RIAS seems a superior orchestra, but also because Brown took tempi that are far too slow and it seems that he does not completely understand what the music is about. When the Rucht version was later released on Masterseal MSLP 5012 for conductor the name Kut Wöss is mentioned. The change of the name was made because of the contract with Bertelsmann had been breached and had ended prematurely. A later re-release with the name Rucht was unlawful.

The virtuoso quality and discipline of the RIAS Orchestra can also be witnessed on many other Remingtons, but in particular the Jonel Perlea disc with excerpts from Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky) and Le carnaval des animaux (Saint-Saëns) in which Heinrich Köhler plays the cello part (The Swan/Le cygne).
Georges Sebastian's 'Symphony fantastique' (Berlioz) is also a very skillful and sensitive performance. And the recordings by Edward Kilenyi of works by Liszt do have the right intensity and the perfect balance between soloist and orchestra. However there is some wow in the first notes of the Glazunov Violin Concerto played by André Gabriel. It is possible that the tape did not reach the correct speed when the recording started or the cutting lathe did not reach the right speed when the laquer was cut and no second laquer was cut.

Recordings made with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra and released on Remington records:

R-199-11 Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov) - Karl Rucht, conductor.
R-199-159 La boîte à joujoux - The Box of Toys (Debussy) - Jonel Perlea, conductor.
R-199-160 Excerpts from Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky) and Carnival of Animals (Saint-Saëns) - Jonel Perlea, conductor.

With the highest admiration for the very excellent Rias orchestra, Jonel Perlea 27/8/53

R-199-164 Piano Concerto No. 2 (Brahms) - Edward Kilenyi, pianist and Jonel Perlea, conductor.
R-199-166 Piano Concerto No. 1 and Totentanz (Liszt) - Edward Kilenyi, pianist and Jonel Perlea, conductor.
R-199-170 Orchestral medleys from The Merry Widow (Lehar) and One Night in Venice (Strauss) - Gerhard Becker, conductor.
R-199-172 Gaité parisienne (Offenbach) - Manuel Rosenthal, conductor. Later released in a new disguise and with R-199-254 as reference number. The same recording was issued on Rondolette A8 around 1958. Were the tapes acquired via Don Gabor? Or was Rondolette partly owned by Gabor?
R-199-174 Orchestral excerpts from Wagner operas - George Sebastian, conductor.

Picture of George Sebastian taken from an advertisement for Remington MUSIRAMA releases.

R-199-176 Symphonie Fantastique (Berlioz) - George Sebastian, conductor. In Germany released on the Diamant label, reference BL 733

To my good friends and colleagues of the wunderful-magnificently sounding RIAS orchestra. My thanks for making harmonious music together and all best wishes for a great future. September (?) 1954 Berlin. Georges Sebastian.

My dear RIAS Orchestra - with sincere thanks for brilliant musicmaking. November/January 1953/54. Otto Matzerath.

R-199-177 Wagnerian Overtures - Leopold Ludwig, conductor.
R-199-180 Symphony No. 1 (Schumann) - Otto Matzerath, conductor - released Spring 1955
R-199-181 Light French Opera Overtures: Von Suppé, Adam, Aubert, Maillart - Gerhard Becker, conductor.
R-199-183 Music by Offenbach - Manuel Rosenthal, conductor.
R-199-188 Sinfonietta (Rudhyar), Gymnopedia (Glanville-Hicks) - Jonel Perlea, conductor (coupled with Henry Brant's Saxophone Concerto performed by Sigurd Rascher (saxophonist of the New York Philharmonic) here with the Cincinnati Symphony conducted by Thor Johnson) - released Fall 1955
R-199-189 Can Can (Offenbach) - Manuel Rosenthal, conductor (coupled with selections from the musical Can Can played by Tony Osborne and his orchestra).
R-199-191 Violin Concerto (Glazunov) - André Gabriel, violin and Georg Ludwig Jochum, conductor (coupled with The Origin of Fire (Sibelius) with the Helsinki University Chorus and soloist Sulus Saarits, baritone, and Pohjola’s Daughter, Op. 49 (Sibelius).
R-199-192 Orchestral medley from The Beggar Student (Millöcker) - Gerhard Becker, conductor.

All my thanks for the recordings! And You personally all the best for 1954! Yours Wolfgang Sawallisch.

Wolfgang Sawallisch around 1955. Picture taken from an old encyclopedia.

R-199-194 Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 (Bach), Concerto Grosso No. 5 (Handel) - Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor.
R-199-197 Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky) - Conrad Hansen, pianist and Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor.
R-199-201 Symphony No. 5 (Sibelius) - Jussi Jalas, conductor.
R-199-203 Francesca da Rimini (Tchaikovsky) and Theme and Variations (Tchaikovsky) - Anatole Fistoulari, conductor.
R-199-205 Variations on a Theme by Haydn (Brahms) - Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting. Coupled with Tragic Overture (Brahms), Academic Festival Overture (Brahms) with conductor Otto Matzerath.
R-199-207 Choros No. 6 (Villa-Lobos) - conducted by Villa-Lobos himself, coupled with the older recordings of Enesco's Rumanian Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2, conducted by Enesco. The coupling probably in remembrance of George Enesco who died in 1955.
R-199-208 Suites from Sylvia and Coppelia (Delibes) - Anatole Fistoulari and George Sebastian, conductors. In 1967 these performances were reissued in 1967 on Everest 6116 (mono) and 3116 (stereo). The availability

Jussi Jalas recorded Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 and 5 and Five humoresques for violin solo and orchestra with violinist Anja Ignatius. But only Symphony No. 5 was released on Remington.

on stereo suggests that the recordings were made in stereo, though not on 35 mm film, which could have been used for the transfer of the original tapes. The Everest release not only shows that the sound of these recordings was basically excellent in those days, but also the performances are noteworthy.
R-199-218 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 and No.14 (Liszt), Hungarian Dances No. 1 through 6 (Brahms) with Karl Rucht conducting; the same program of rhapsodies and dances was later re-released on the Paris-label (Album 12) and pressed on better vinyl. Although I saw the cover of 199-218 once, various Schwann catalogs, the 1956 Artist Listing and the Artist Issue of 1958 ncluded, do not have this recording listed. It may have had a very short life span as a Remington release, because after the last releases starting at 200, the label soon was suspended and the recordings were released on Gabor's other labels like Paris, Buckingham and Webster and were not listed any longer in the serious record catalogs: Schwann and The Longplayer.

There were also a few recordings made with the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, a.o. R-199-209 - Hindemith: Mathis der Mahler, Schumann: Manfred Overture, Von Weber: Euryanthe Overture (Leopold Ludwig).

The recordings made with the RIAS Orchestra are listed in the catalog of the Tefi Schallbänder (Tefi Sound Films).
The Tefi Sound Films were to be played on the Tefifon and other special Tefi reproducers (Tefi Geräte). The Tefi Schallband was an alternative to the gramophone record, the tape recorder and the Philips Miller Sound Recording System.
The Tefifon was invented by Dr. Karl Daniel (1905-1977). The sound was engraved on an endless film and was originally read by a crystal pick up cartridge and later moving magnet designs were incorporated. The principle of this system was devised already by Oberlin Smith, the man who also had the idea for magnetic recording in 1889.
The Tefi cassettes were available from 1950 until 1962. A great advantage of the system was that it was really a long play medium as one Tefi Schallband (sound tape) could easily have one hour of music at a speed of 19 cm/s. And it was also suitable for stereo. When stereo was introduced the ceramic cartridge was replaced by a better phono cartridge which then read the endless groove.

The Tefifon Schallband with Sibelius's Second Symphony and Five Humoresques conducted by Jussi Jalas, with violinist Anja Ignatius as issued in Germany. The recording of the Five Humoresques was in fact the world premiere recording and was never issued by Don Gabor though he and Laszlo Halasz supervised these recordings in Berlin. J. Radnuz was the recording engineer. Image of the Tefifon cassette and information on the Tefifon Schallbänder submitted by Dr. Klaus Holzapfel, Germany.)

Only the 5th Symphony was issued in the MUSIRAMA Series. The recording of the Symphony No. 1 was released together with Five Humoresques on Varèse Sarabande VC 81043 in 1978. Varèse-Sarabande mentions 'Radio Symphony Orchestra' instead of the RIAS Symphony. This is incorrect as the recordings were made in January of 1954 and the RIAS orchestra was renamed Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSO) only in 1956.

The Tefi Schallbänder catalog (Tefifon Schallband label) shows many of the titles which also appeared on Remington:
Edward Kilenyi playing Franz Liszt's Concerto No. 1 and Brahms's No. 2 with Jonel Perlea, Conrad Hansen playing Tchaikovsky's Op.23 with Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Karl Rucht conducting Scheherazade, Hungarian Rhapsodies and Gayaneh, and Anatole Fistoulari conducting Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini, just to mention a few.

Cellist Heinrich Köhler told me that there was a law suit: Bertelsmann v. Remington (Don Gabor). The collaboration with Bertelsmann in Germany (officially starting in 1953) resulted in many MUSIRAMA-recordings made with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra and later with other orchestras when the RIAS Orchestra was renamed Radio Sinfonie Orchester. In Germany they were of course released on Bertelsmann's Phonoring or Schallplattenring as well as on the Tefifon tapes. Don Gabor wanted to release the older recordings from Austria in Germany too. For that he created the German Diamant label. But when he releases also recordings made with the RIAS Symphony on this label, it clearly was a breach of the contract.
The Diamant releases are pressed from Remington plates, probably in the Webster plant in Massachusetts. From the way the covers are printed and manufactured, I assume that the covers are made in the printing division of Remington's Webster pressing plant as well. On the label is printed "Licensed by Remington Records." The German covers had no liner notes. There was probably no time to write these, or a translation from the notes of the American covers was too expensive. The covers have a standard yellow-light blue-white colored lay out. On the front the name of the composer, of the works and the names of the performers are printed as well as a reference number for ordering the item, in German: "Best. Nr." (Bestell Nummer).

On the Diamant label appear older recordings made in Vienna like 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 conductor Kurt Wöss (BL 745).
But also Symphony Fantastique (Berlioz) with the RIAS Orchestra under Georges Sebastian in the new Musirama sound is released as BL 733 while this recording is also released by Bertelsmann and on the Tefifon Band (tape). Distributing the Diamant releases in Germany is of course against the terms agreed upon between Gabor and the Bertelsmann firm. The outcome of the law suit ends the contract with the RIAS Orchestra and Bertelsmann prematurely. That is why more recordings made with the RIAS Symphony are not issued in the US. Also the later stereo recordings were excluded.

As is printed on the covers of the Varèse-Sarabande Remington Series, prepared by producer Tom Null who owns a few original tapes with recordings made in Germany, most recordings were supervised by both Don Gabor and Laszlo Halasz, and the recording technician was J. Radnuz. Tape recorders with 30 IPS speed were in use to obtain high quality.

It is not sure if the orchestra was also conducted by Laszlo Halasz. The release of Bertelsmann Schallplattenring 8135 indicates that Laszlo Halasz conducted the RIAS Symphony in Hungarian Dance No. 6, which is of course one of the dances conducted by Karl Rucht. This same Bertelsmann disc has excerpts from recordings made by other Remington artists: Wolfgang Sawallisch, Alexander Jenner and Karl Rucht. It is possible that Halasz did conduct the Hungarian Dance more for fun and that his name was deliberately changed into that of Karl Rucht or the opposite may have been the case. An oddity is the recording with Karl Rucht conducting Gayaneh by Khachaturian on a Masterseal release with the Remington Musirama label and Remington matrix numbers which were printed also on the label: 33 1637. I did not find a Remington Musirama equivalent. After Columbia Records had won the case against Don Gabor and the latter was no longer allowed to use the wording Masterworks and the label name "Masterseal" (which easily could be confounded with Columbia's Masterworks), many records were released with the Remington style labels and the Masterseal logo was omitted on the covers.
On Webster ST12 Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Suite with Jonel Perlea from R-199-160 is reissued together with Otto Matzerath's performances of Academic Festival Overture and Tragic Overture (Brahms) from R-199-205.

When Bertelsmann founded the Ariola division, many of the "Remington recordings" were released on their Classique label. To mention a few:
13174H - Tchaikovsky: Piano Conmcerto No. 1 with pianist Conrad Hansen and conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch.
16 087D - Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.
13153H - Hindemith: Matthis der Mahler performed by the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leopold Ludwig.

There are many conductors who perform with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra, especially during this 'period of draught' (when the orchestra was short of finances): Karl Böhm, Georg Solti and Otto Klemperer, Leo Blech, Hermann Abendroth and Eugene Ormandy. A noteworthy event was when the Scala Opera Company visited Berlin in 1955 and performed with the RIAS Symphony in Lucia di Lammermoor conducted by Herbert von Karajan with singers Maria Meneghine Callas (Soprano), Giuseppe di Stefano (Tenor), Rolando Panerai (Baritone), Nicola Zaccaria (Bass-Baritone), Giuseppe Zampieri (Tenor), Luisa Villa (Mezzo-Soprano), Mario Carlin (Tenor), The Chorus of La Scala Milan. And there are prominent solists like pianist Michael Raucheisen. And there is cellist Enrico Mainardi who performs Cello Concertos of Haydn and Schumann with Fritz Lehmann conducting (LPM 18 222).
The conductors of the younger generation also swing the baton in front of the orchestra: Wolfgang Sawallisch, Bernhard Haitink and Lorin Maazel. And Fricsay continues to conduct the orchestra on various occasions, for concerts and for recordings as his discography shows.

Ferenc Fricsay (August 9, 1914 -February 20, 1963)
(Photo Copyright Schumacher/Deutsche Grammophon)

Ferenc Fricsay makes many recordings with the RIAS Symphony:

Bartok's Violin Concerto with Tibor Varga (18006 LPM), Bartok's Two Portraits Op. 5 with Violinist Rudolf Schulz (22248 LVM 78 RPM Variable Micrograde, 78 Langspielplatte, 78 rpm long playing record) - coupled with Blacher's Paganini Variations on 16054 LP, 3rd Piano Concerto with Monique Haas (18223 LPM), his 'Music for Strings Percussion and Celesta' ((LP 16074)

Bartok's Two Portraits Op. 5 with Violinist Rudolf Schulz (22248 LVM 78 RPM Variable Micrograde (78 UpM Langspielplatte, 78 RPM long playing record)

'Divertimento' and Dance Suite (LPM 18153), Dvorak's 'New World Symphony' (18142 LPM), Stravinsky's 'Le sacre du printemps' (18189 LPM and 'Capricio' with pianist Monique Haas (18004 LPM), Préludes and Ballet Music from Carmen (17092 LPE), Stravinsky's 'Symphonie des Psaumes' and Frank Martin's 'Petite Symphonie concertante' (18035 LPM), Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony (18039 LPM), Werner Egk's 'Kleine Abraxis-Suite' (30228 EPL) and 'Suite française pour orchestre' (LPM 8401), a program of well-known compositions by Berlioz (Danse des Sylphes from La damnation de Faust) and Borodin (In the Steppes of Central Asia), coupled with 'Marche hongroise' performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, and with the Lamoureux Orchestre (L'orchestre des concerts Lamoureux): Dukas (L'apprenti sorcier) and Mussorgsky (A night on Bald Mountain)(19061 LPEM), Stravinsky's 'Petrouchka' (LPE 17003), Liebermann's 'Furioso' and 'Suite' (30113 EPC), Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings (LPE 17036), Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies 1 and 2 (LPE 17055), Mozart's Symphonies Nos. 29 and 41 (18296 LPM), Dvorak's Violin Concerto with Johanna Martzy (LPM 18152), Haydn's 'The Seasons' (18025/28 LPM), Haydn Symphonies 44 and 95 (18180 LPM) and 98 and 101 (18339 LPM), Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade (19075 LPEM), Hartmann's Symphony No. 6 (16401 LP), Rossini's 'Stabat Mater' with Maria Stader and Kodaly's 'Psalmus Hungaricus' with Ernst Haefliger (18203/4 LPM, released in February 1955; the Deutsche Grammophon CD is not the passionate RIAS Orchestra performance recorded in mono but a later performance with slower tempi by Fricsay with the Radio Symphony Orchestra from a radio broadcast in stereo);Tchaikovsky's 'Overture Solennelle - 1812' with the Don Cossack Chorus/Don Kosakken-Chor, coupled with Wagner's Overture to 'The Flying Dutchman/Der Fliegende Holländer' (LPE 17022) - the complete opera with Josef Greindl, Annelies Kupper, Wolfgang Windgassen, Sieglinde Wagner, Ernst Haefliger and Josef Metternich, the RIAS Choir and Orchestra conducted by Ferenc Fricsay was released on AK (automatische Kupplung = automatic sequence):18063/65 LPM and NK:18116/118 LPM. Then there are Kodaly's Maroszek Dances and Dances from Galanta (LPE 17060), Respighi's 'La boutique fantasque' (LP 17054), Mozart's 'The Magic Flute' (LPM 18264/266 NK) and 'Exultate jubilate' (17027 LPE), Mozart Symphonies 20, 32 and 35 (18066 LPM), Nos. 41 and 29 (18290 LP), Verdi's 'Messa da Requiem' with Maria Stader, Marianne Radev, Helmut Krebs, Kim Borg and the St.Hedwig Cathedral Choir (18155/56 or 18157/58 LPM).
Like Winnifred Atwell who wanted to record Grieg's Piano Concerto, also famous violinist Helmut Zacharias had a wish to record more serious compositions. He made a recording of 'Zigeunerweisen' Op.20 (Pablo de Sarasate) and 'Hejre Kati' (Jenö Hubay) with the RIAS Symphony conducted by Ferenc Fricsay, coupled with 'Polovetsian Dances' from Borodin's opera Prince Igor (LPE 17071).
All the original releases of these recordings (except the Variable Micro Grade 78 RPM pressings) had gatefold covers with the stitched compartments which was the trademark of Deutsche Grammophon in the nineteen fifties. Lateron they were released in single covers and the date on the back of the cover at the end of the fine print tells when a particular pressing was issued, not the date of the actual recording.

When in 1956 the orchestra becomes the official orchestra of "Sender freies Berlin" (SFB), the orchestra's name is changed to Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSO) Berlin and it keeps up its fine and high standard of music making, thanks to the devotion of Ferenc Fricsay who again is appointed as principal conductor in 1959, and thanks of course to the members of the orchestra. By that time Don Gabor has already stopped making recordings with the orchestra and also the recordings with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra and conductor Otto Matzerath are history. With the advent of the stereo record Don Gabor discontinues the Remington label altogether and starts to expand his Masterseal label of which the first productions had already been released in 1953.

My thanks to Mr. Heinrich Köhler for allowing me to publish the signatures he collected in his scrapbook of conductors who recorded for the Remington label. Thanks also to Dr. Klaus Holzapfel from Stuttgart, Germany, for providing the data about the Tefifon system and recordings, the image of the label of the Sibelius recording as issued on Varèse Sarabande, and the image of conductor Jussi Jalas.

Text and research Rudolf A. Bruil - Page created August, 2001.