Remington LPs from the 1950s
Eduardo Gabarra
Jonathan Brown wrote in message
<363ac16d...@newshost.pcug.org.au>...
>Does anyone know the provenance of this label?
Remington Records were issued by Eddie Smith, too. They differed
from Allegro in that the names of the performers were correctly
listed.
Many of the performances had been produced and studio recorded by
Eddie himself in Italy. In spite of a shoestring budget, some of them
were reasonably good (Turandot, with Grob-Prandl, for instance).
Others, however... I remember a very bad Tosca from Remington, so bad
it was a funny party record. The Tosca was some soprano with a Russian
name.
I wish I still had it.
Eduardo Gabarra
>I have seen one in the Schwann catalogue, about 1950, claiming to
have
>Wagner orchestral music played by the "Israel State Orchestra"
>conducted by "Irving Riskin", but have never seen the record itself.
>
>Surely this was a joke.
>
>Maybe the label came from the same stable as "Allegro Elite" and
>"Gramophone", pirate records from the 1950s, with false names of
>singers and conductors, produced by Eddie J. Smith.
>
>Anyone have any suggestions?
>
>Jonathan Brown
Jonathan Brown
I have seen one in the Schwann catalogue, about 1950, claiming to have
dtritter
opera company, which seemed reasonable since the performances sounded as
if they took place and were committed to disc during a season of high
winds. and speaking of flatulence, i understand they were favorably
reviewed by emma albani, exhibiting her predelictions in taste even in
her preadolescent years, before pms took over.
dft
Ed Rosen
One of my very first complete Boheme recordings was on the Remington
label, and featured Danisa Illitsch, about who(m) I know, and a tenor
with the strange name of Ratko (?) Delorko. And he was not bad, at
least as far as my 15 year old ears heard him.
I fell in love with Boheme from this recording.
Remington had others, and I'm sure I had a Turandot with Grob-Prandell
and also Ratko, if memory serves.
Can anyone out there help jog my memory?
Best,
Ed
Ed Rosen<legat...@earthlink.net> for free catalog
Legato Classics, Inc.
http://www.legatoclassics.com
Rodger Whitlock
wrote:
>Does anyone know the provenance of this label?
>
>I have seen one in the Schwann catalogue, about 1950, claiming to have
>Wagner orchestral music played by the "Israel State Orchestra"
>conducted by "Irving Riskin", but have never seen the record itself.
>
>Surely this was a joke.
Sounds more like the contemporaneous LPs from Period played by the
"Patagonia Festival Orchestra" under "Ralph DeCross" -- pseudonyms for
much bigger names. One infers that the recordings were pirated, but
possibly they were legitimately licensed but with the proviso that the
true names of the perfomers could not be used. BTW, the Period
catalogue included some completely legitimate recordings and at least
one, Kodaly cello works played by Janos Starker ca. 1950, was reissued
by Philips on CD.
I imagine that by now someone out there has identified all of these
pseudonymous flags of convenience.
>Maybe the label came from the same stable as "Allegro Elite" and
>"Gramophone", pirate records from the 1950s, with false names of
>singers and conductors, produced by Eddie J. Smith.
Both Remington and Period were real record labels, listed (as you see)
in Schwann and freely available unlike the uncataologued E. J. Smith
stuff, which was kept under the counter (according to accounts I've
read).
Period LPs were still available in the mid 1960s. The label eventually
fell into the hands of the same folks that bought Everest,
Counterpoint-Esoteric, etc and the recordings continued to be
available in various horrible electronic stereo dubbings for a long
time.
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
John L. Holubiak
on Remington as I remember borrowing a friend's 10" LP a number of years
ago. Philips re-issued the complete set in their Legendary Classics series,
but not in the U.S. I would like to see this set become available again,
for while the technical execution is very flawed, the emotional projection
from Enesco is very strong. I can understand why Menuhin held him in such
high regard.
John
Rodger Whitlock wrote in message
... BTW, the Period
>catalogue included some completely legitimate recordings and at least
>one, Kodaly cello works played by Janos Starker ca. 1950, was reissued
>by Philips on CD...
>
Mike Richter
>
> all i recall is that they brought us performances from the patagonian
> opera company,
No, the Patagonia Festival was the supposed orchestra for the Period
releases. Those were, in fact, ripoffs from European radio broadcasts,
the most notorious being the commercial (DGG) Trovatore.
Mike
mric...@mindspring.com
http://mrichter.simplenet.com
CD-R http://resource.simplenet.com
Klyphil
ever made. If anyone is interested E-mail me and I'll tell you who the felons
are.
Buoso Donati, Jr.
Placido 21
Petrova..The late greatoriginal pirate Eddie Smith told me she paid for the
whole thing..you DIE LAUGHING!!!!!
CAP guns at the end..but hjetr high notes make you wish for even mara
Zampieri..I would not trade this set for a zillion bucks.....and her other
stuff.on Ace (Aida,Recital) makes you need pepto-Bismol...I spliced her high
notes into Birgit Nilsson's In questa reggia..poor Birgit..FORGIVE ME!!!!!!!!!
I have had people like Ramey,etc..lying on the floor hysterical from
Vassilka.......CH
Charlie, baritono somewhat supremo,and no.1 fan of the great Diana Soviero..so
there!
Placido 21
trovatore and Aida w.the met star Stella Roman and the mezzo(???)Sylvia
sawyer???Sylvia Sawyer ranks as one of the funniest singers in captivity....NO
ONE can top her...well,maybe Anna Moffo recently....CH
GregF NC
Remington.
Greg F(in North Carolina)
Edward A. Cowan
That was the one with Vassilka Petrova as Santuzza and Eddy Ruhl as
Turiddu, right? (Remington 199-74) No, I'm not interested in having it
<shudder>, but I did want to report that I am one person who actually
heard tenor Eddy Ruhl in person. He sang the role of Gregory/Dimitri in
a Fort Worth performance of _Boris Godunov_ ca. 1960 (Jerome Hines sang
the title-role). He was not memorable...
-- E.A.C.
jim...@ibm.net
Ed Rosen wrote:
> Remington had others, and I'm sure I had a Turandot with Grob-Prandell
> and also Ratko, if memory serves.
I never had a complete opera on Remington but I still own two Astrid Varnay
recital discs, with an
Austrian Radio orchestra conducted by her husband. They are interesting for
the French and Italian
items not usually associated with Varnay.
Jim Dunphy
Ed Rosen
>
>That was the one with Vassilka Petrova as Santuzza and Eddy Ruhl as
>Turiddu, right? (Remington 199-74) No, I'm not interested in having it
><shudder>, but I did want to report that I am one person who actually
>heard tenor Eddy Ruhl in person. He sang the role of Gregory/Dimitri
in
>a Fort Worth performance of _Boris Godunov_ ca. 1960 (Jerome Hines
sang
>the title-role). He was not memorable...
>
>-- E.A.C.
I also hear Eddy Ruhl in person.
It was in Norma at the Brooklyn Academy in about 1962-3. Herva Nelli
was the Norma, and it was a truly awful performance.
This was the famous night where the chorus just seemed to "schlep"
around the stage long after they were to have exited after Norma'a
cabaletta. The entrance music for Adlagisa started, and this crazy
chorus just stood there, not having a clue in hell what to do.
Finally, in a very quite moment, a loud voice was heard from the wings
shouting "get off the stage." Everyone in the audience cracked up.
Certainly one of the funnier things I have ever seen in an opera
performance.
Best,
Ed
Hemidemi
Orlandini. Also a terrific Rossini Stabat Mater with Seefried and Fehenberger.
Two operatic recitals by Astrid Varnay conducted by her husband, Herman Weigert
that have been reissued I believe.
Hemidemi
but recorded so little.
Jonathan Brown
(Rodger Whitlock) wrote:
[snip]
>Sounds more like the contemporaneous LPs from Period played by the
>"Patagonia Festival Orchestra" under "Ralph DeCross" -- pseudonyms for
>much bigger names. One infers that the recordings were pirated, but
>possibly they were legitimately licensed but with the proviso that the
>true names of the perfomers could not be used.
This is very interesting. I have one "Ralph deCross" recording on
Period. He is conducting the "Paris National Symphony" (which never
existed) in a selection of Wagner "Orchestra Gems".
The Prelude from "Tristan" on this record is in fact Heinrich
Hollreiser conducting the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in 1954, a
recording released, and properly attributed, by Vox in the 1960s.
And it is one that has appeared more often on various cheap CDs
recently purporting to be the conductors "George Richter" or "Alfred
Gehardt".
Poor Hollreiser. He has been properly diddled. A classic case of
post-War looting.
Jonathan Brown
George Murnu
- His String Octet with the Louis de Froment ensemble
- His Romanian Rhapsodies, the first with an unnamed orcehstra, his
second with the Collone Concerts Orchestra.
- His Dixtuor for Woodwinds with an ensemble drawn from the French Radio
Orchestra.
- His Third Violin Sonata with Celiny Chailley-Richez at the piano.
- Two sonatas by Schumann again with Celiny Chailley-Richez.
Some of these recordings also appeared on other labels ( Columbia, etc.
)
Regarding Enescu's reading of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas they are
indeed technically flawed but that's due to the fact that, being made
during Enescu's later part of the career, he suffered from an arthritis
( sp ? ) which would eventually force him to abandon playing the violin
altogether. Indeed, during his last 3-4 years of life Enescu would only
record as a conductor. But back to the Bach set, Enescu's musicality
and inteligence are still overwhelming and make this set still a
formidable one after all these years. Unfortunately it is out of print
even in Japan.
Regards,
George
Peter M. Barach, Ph.D.
shops in very poor shape. One of them was a terrific performance of
Beethoven Eroica conducted by Fritz Busch, the other was a group of
incredibly rapid performances by Simon Barere--I don't remember what he
played...
Peter
--
Peter M. Barach, Ph.D. (pba...@sprynet.com)
MT
<<I've only run across two Remington discs. Both of them I bought in
thrift shops in very poor shape. One of them was a terrific performance
of Beethoven Eroica conducted by Fritz Busch, the other was a group of
incredibly rapid performances by Simon Barere--I don't remember what he
played...>>
I think I have the Barere LP. If I recall correctly, it has a really
fast Schumann Toccata. I really should unpack the LPs and transfer the
good ones to CD. I also recall a Remington LP of a very exciting Earl
Wild recital.
Speaking of LPs, the other day I bought one of Arrau doing the Schubert
D958 sonata (recorded in 1980). It sounds like a great performance -
somehow Arrau manages to make something beautiful and coherent out of
this very heavy piece. The LP has better sound than Arrau's Beethoven
recordings from the eighties.
Regards,
MT
David Weiner
>Does anyone know the provenance of this label?
>
>I have seen one in the Schwann catalogue, about 1950, claiming to have
>Wagner orchestral music played by the "Israel State Orchestra"
>conducted by "Irving Riskin", but have never seen the record itself.
>
>Surely this was a joke.
>
>Jonathan Brown
There was an Irving Riskin who was a pianist/arranger/composer for
numerous American dance bands in the 1920s and 1930s -- could this be
him?
Dave W.
djw...@earthlink.net
John L. Holubiak
Enescu's 3rd Violin Sonata coupled with Beethoven's *Kreutzer* on a Japanese
EMI LP, but it would be great if these other works were available.
John
George Murnu wrote in message <363D33...@erols.com>...
HenryFogel
>From: plac...@aol.com (Placido 21)
>Date: 10/D/YYYY 10:49 PM Central Standard Time
>Message-id: <19981031234935...@ng42.aol.com>
>
>NOTHING is more hilarious than the Remington TOSCA with the great(???)
>Vassilka
>Petrova..The late greatoriginal pirate Eddie Smith told me she paid for the
>whole thing..you DIE LAUGHING!!!!!
>CAP guns at the end..but hjetr high notes make you wish for even mara
>Zampieri..I would not trade this set for a zillion bucks.....and her other
>stuff.on Ace (Aida,Recital) makes you need pepto-Bismol...I spliced her high
>notes into Birgit Nilsson's In questa reggia..poor Birgit..FORGIVE
>ME!!!!!!!!!
>I have had people like Ramey,etc..lying on the floor hysterical from
>Vassilka.......CH
>Soviero..so
>there!
>
The Remington Tosca, which I also own, and which I too have used to put people
on the floor with laughter, is quite remarkable. It is labelled a "Don Gabor
Production," and what I had heard was that Ms. Petrova was married to Don
Gabor, who did pay for the set to be made. The rest of the performance is a
mediocre, provincial Tosca -- Eddy Ruhl and Piero Campolonghi are Cavaradossi
and Scarpia, and you wonder what they must have made of her. She shrieks and
skrawks in the most astonishing way. The final "O Scarpia, d'avanti a Dio" is
God-awful -- but the most amazing thing is the very audible splice before the
passage. Then you hear this shrecking, and you realize that this splice means
they did editing -- this take is the BEST they could find! Remarkable.
Henry Fogel
Edward A. Cowan
> The Remington Tosca, which I also own, and which I too have used to put people
> on the floor with laughter, is quite remarkable. It is labelled a "Don Gabor
> Production," and what I had heard was that Ms. Petrova was married to Don
> Gabor, who did pay for the set to be made. The rest of the performance is a
> mediocre, provincial Tosca -- Eddy Ruhl and Piero Campolonghi are Cavaradossi
> and Scarpia, and you wonder what they must have made of her. She shrieks and
> skrawks in the most astonishing way. The final "O Scarpia, d'avanti a Dio" is
> God-awful -- but the most amazing thing is the very audible splice before the
> passage. Then you hear this shrecking, and you realize that this splice means
> they did editing -- this take is the BEST they could find! Remarkable.
I remember reading about that Remington set of _Tosca_ back when it was
new. (I have a friend who most likely has that recording!) I think it
was _Opera News_ that, in reviewing the recording, referred to it as one
in a series of "music depreciation records"... In _The Metropolitan
Opera Guide to Recorded Opera_, p.413, Conrad L. Osborne calls this one
the "Tosca from Hell" because of Petrova, whose singing "has long
enjoyed some status as a camp artifact". Talk about the power of
understatement!
-- E.A.C.
George Murnu
account of his 3rd Violin Sonata with Dinu Lipatti is available from
Dante/Lys, although this CD is not distributed in America. It can be
nonetheless purchased from the source at
http://www.pl-music.com/PL/default.asp ( of course, I'm not affiliated
with them ).
As far as the other Enescu works, they are currently available in
different interpretations. My favorite version of the String Octet is
by the ASMF chamber ensemble on Chandos, and for the Dixtuor I prefer
either Lawrence Foster on Chandos or Constantin Silvestri on
Electrecord.
BTW, the Kreutzer on the Japanese LP that you mention was also performed
by Enescu? How about the 3rd Violin Sonata?
Thank you,
George
Don Drewecki
I have seen and heard a few of those Remingtons with Barrere, and this
brings up an interesting matter:
Who actually owns the master tapes of this label's material? For that
matter, who owns the master tapes of the Elaine Music Shop (EMS)
records? I always wanted to hear remasterings of Webster Aitken's solo
piano recordings of Schubert piano sonatas, free of the scratches of the
worn LPs I've heard. So, who has them??? Mike Gray, do you have an
answer? AFT?? M. O-T????
--
Don Drewecki
<dre...@rpi.edu>
John L. Holubiak
Chailley-Richez). It is a strong, direct reading, very well recorded. It
shows the beauty of tone that Enescu could produce at times but also the
unsteadiness on sustained note values due to the arthritis mentioned in your
earlier post. I didn't find this to be bothersome as the intensity of
Enescu's playing shines through vividly. This recording was available on a
10" LP issued in France (it may have had circulation elsewhere) but is not
listed in WERM.
The recording of Enescu's 3rd Sonata is probably the same one issued on
Remington. I really liked this recording as it has a folkish, gypsy quality
that Menuhin's recording (from the 30s) doesn't quite reproduce. Again the
Japanese transfer is excellent. Also included on this disc is the 1928
recording of Chausson's *Poeme*.
The recording was issued in the Japanese Great Recordings of the Century
Series (GR -2212).
John
George Murnu wrote in message <36410D...@erols.com>...
George Murnu
George
Eric Schissel
-Eric Schissel
--
schi...@lightlink.com
http://www.lightlink.com/schissel ICQ#7279016
standard disclaimer
George Murnu
version can be safely recommended and Silvestri was a close friend of
Enescu so it perhaps has more authenticity. But I'll be looking forward
it. I see it now listed on Naxos' site but they do not list the
performers - do you have the info?
Thanks,
George
Eric Schissel
THOMAS ASTORINO
would like a copy
ciao,
Tony Spumoni
nmharl...@gmail.com
> In <363ac16d...@newshost.pcug.org.au> jgb...@pcug.org.au
> >
> >Does anyone know the provenance of this label?
> >
> >I have seen one in the Schwann catalogue, about 1950, claiming to have
> >Wagner orchestral music played by the "Israel State Orchestra"
> >conducted by "Irving Riskin", but have never seen the record itself.
> >
> >Surely this was a joke.
> >
> >"Gramophone", pirate records from the 1950s, with false names of
> >singers and conductors, produced by Eddie J. Smith.
> >
> >Anyone have any suggestions?
> >
> >Jonathan Brown
>
> One of my very first complete Boheme recordings was on the Remington
> label, and featured Danisa Illitsch, about who(m) I know, and a tenor
> with the strange name of Ratko (?) Delorko. And he was not bad, at
> least as far as my 15 year old ears heard him.
>
> I fell in love with Boheme from this recording.
> Remington had others, and I'm sure I had a Turandot with Grob-Prandell
> and also Ratko, if memory serves.
>
>
>
> Best,
> Ed
> Ed Rosen<legat...@earthlink.net> for free catalog
> Legato Classics, Inc.
> http://www.legatoclassics.com
I also had the Illitsch reccording of La Boheme which really got me turned on to La Boheme. I remember her as being pretty good and she did make a number of recordings. I do not remember the rest of the cast, however, or the real orchestra. She did sing Desdemona at the Met.