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 by the end of 1954 the first Remington-records with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra were released, many a music lover and critic was surprised that an orchestra of this stature was recording for Don Gabor's Remington Records. The RIAS Symphony (RIAS Sinfonie-Orchester) 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 made several 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?

The original picture of the microphone was edited and enhanced. It was taken from Europäischer Phonoklub Opera 3112 release: Adolf Wreege mit seinem RIAS -Orchester.

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 on 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.

After World War II in all parts 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 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.

It is Elsa Schiller, director of the classical music division of the radio station, who persuades Ferenc Fricsay to come to Berlin.
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 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".
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, 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 Haskil; 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.

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 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 which would be relatively cheap.

Fact is that Don Gabor does not buy ready tapes, and in no case tapes of obscure and illegal origin. 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 and is well able to hire this genuine and well trained, virtuoso orchestra of professional musicians. Furthermore able conductors and soloists are asked to perform.

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. Halasz became recording director of Remington Records. Many a recording was at the same time supervised by Donald Gabor himself.
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. The tight schedule led at least at one time to a more or less hilarious happening with Günther Wand. Mr. Köhler told me about the sessions of the orchestra for the Remington Record Company in the years 1953 till about 1956. He recalls:

"In a three hour session at least one hour ready music should be recorded on tape. Unknown conductors acquited with difficulty their tasks. At one time Günther 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 mindblowing.) 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 is really unknown. It may be a pseudonym for whom? Maybe for Roman Totenberg. This is not certain, as Don Gabor announced in the 1953 Remington catalog that there were plans to make recordings with Tossy Spivakovsky. The question is whether Spivakovsky traveled to Berlin in the early nineteen fifties. Gabriel is the soloist in Glazounov's Violin Concerto.
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 make 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. According to Heinrich Köhler, Rucht was a trumpet player by profession and played in the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and at that time also started to conduct. He led the orchestra on the new edition of Remington R-199-11 because Laszlo Halasz did not have a more known conductor at hand or a hired conductor did not turn up, or maybe just because Rucht was an able conductor as this recording clearly shows.
Rucht's performance of Scheherazade can also be found on Urania 7-19 (later the reference number was changed to 7133) with 'Symphony Orchestra of Radio Berlin'. This is an earlier recording which was already listed in 'The Long Player' of December 1953 while the Remington Musirama recording was released in the following year. (Since I do not have the Rucht Urania record, I cannot check if this actually is the same recording and Gabor obtained the tape.)

As said, the cover of the Rucht Scheherazade (on the new R-199-11 release) does not bear the MUSIRAMA logo as this cover had been used for the Brown recording as well. 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 is a superior orchestra, but also because Brown takes tempi that are far too slow and it seems that he does not completely understand what the music is all about.
Initially I only saw Karl Rucht being listed conducting Scheherazade on Urania and on two Musidisc records from France (reference 842/843) with Bach's Brandenburg Concertos played with the Berlin Chamber Orchestra. But there is also Urania 7146 (Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor) and 7149 (Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1). And there is also Remington R-199-218 with Liszt and Brahms.

The virtuoso quality of the RIAS Orchestra can be witnessed on 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).
The Scheherazade recording not only shows a very good recording technique, indeed reminding one of the Urania sound, but also excellent ensemble playing, and it possibly was not the RIAS Orchestra at all..
Georges Sebastian's 'Symfonie fantastique' (Berlioz) is also a very skillful and sensitive performance. And the Kilenyi recordings of works by Liszt do have the right intensity and the perfect balance between soloist and orchestra. There is some wow in the first notes of the Glazunov Violin Concerto played by André Gabriel, due to the tape that had not reached the correct speed when the recording started, or when the lacquer 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.

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 music of Sibelius with the Cincinnati Symphony).
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 on stereo suggests that the recordings were made in stereo, though not on 35 mm

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

film, which could have been used for the transfer of the original tapes. The Everest release not only shows that the sound technique of these recordings were excellent, 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 included, 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. More recordings were made with the RIAS Orchestra which which could have been released on the Remington label if the contract had not been ended prematurely. Yet a few of these recordings were in the possession of Don Gabor's. This is clear from the catalog of Tefifon Sound Films (Tefi Schallbänder) and from at least one release in the nineteen seventies on the Varèse-Sarabande label.

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. The sound was engraved on an endless film and was read by a crystal pick up cartridge. The principle of this system was devised already by Oberlin Smith, the man who also had the idea for the tape recorder 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. 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 Tefifon catalog had many of the titles which 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.

But there were recordings made with the RIAS Sinfonieorchester which only appeared on Tefi cassettes, just a few examples.
Schubert: Rosamunde Overture (Otto Matzerath), Glinka: A Life for The Csar (Anatole Fistoulari), Glinka: Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture (Otto Matzerath), Von Weber: Invitation to the Dance (Otto Matzerath), Tchaikovsky: Capricio Italien (Fistoulari), Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 and Five Humoresques (Jussi Jalas and violinist Anja Ignatius), Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 (Georg Ludwig Jochum), Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 (Otto Matzerath).

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 Orhester. In Germany they were of course released on Bertelsmann's Phonoring or Schallplattenring as well.

Don Gabor wanted to release the older recordings from Austria in Germany too. I suspect that he issued these on his own German label named DIAMANT together with recordings made with the RIAS Symphony.
The records were pressed from Remington matrixes. Probably in the USA and the covers were possibly also made in Remington's Webster pressing plant. On the label was 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 on the American covers was too expensive. The covers had a standard lay out. On the front the name of the composer, of 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).
On the Diamant label appeared these older recordings 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 in the new Musirama sound was released as BL 733 while this recording was also released by Bertelsmann and Tefifon. The Diamant release was of course against the terms agreed upon between Gabor and the Bertelsmann firm. The outcome of the law suit could have ended the contract too soon. That is why more recordings made with the RIAS Symphony were not issued in the US. And also the later stereo recordings were excluded.

As is printed on the covers of the Varèse-Sarabande Remington Series, most recordings were supervised by both Don Gabor and Laszlo Halasz, and the recording technician was J. Radnuz. Taperecorders with 30 IPS speed were in use.

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. The same Bertelsmann disc has excerpts from recordings made by other Remington artists: Wolfgang Sawallisch, Alexander Jenner and Karl Rucht. It is possible that the name of Halasz was deliberately changed into that of Karl Rucht. 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. After Columbia Records had won the case against Don Gabor and the latter was no longer allowed to use 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.

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, and even pianist Michael Raucheisen. Enrico Mainardi performs Cello Concertos of Haydn and Schumann with Fritz Lehmann conducting (LPM 18 222).
And there are the conductors of the younger generation: 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
(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) - 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), '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 Baller 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 18401), 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 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), 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), its name is changed into "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 and with the advent of the stereo record Don Gabor abandons 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 Stutgart, 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.

Rudolf A. Bruil - Page created August, 2001.