Concerteum CPR 323 is one of the 3 LPs of violinist Agi Jambor, altist Victor Aitay, and cellist Janos Starker, performing Mozart Trios. These were originally released on Period (USA) and on Chamber Music Society, a label of Samuel and David Josefowitz. See Concert Hall & Musical Masterpiece Society

Hans Wolf conducting Mozart Haffner Symphony on Concerteum 257

Frieda Valenzi's Symphonic Variations released in France on Concerteum TCR 273 with two different covers.

.

The French record label Concerteum released recordings of various foreign labels. Among these were Vox, Period and Remington recordings.
Vox recordings had CPL as prefix. Period CPR, and Remington records had CR as a prefix for 12 inch records, and TCR for 10 inch discs. A release containing more than one record was indicated as Alb. (Album).
Jazz records were indicated with the prefix JCR. Some of the recordings of Sarah Vaughan from 1944 and 1945 released on Remington RLP-1024 were issued in France on Concerteum JCR 258.
All recordings were numbered in the 200 Series and a few in the 300 Series. A curiosity is CR 326 on which Zoltan Fekete conducts "Orchestral Suite" (Suite d'orchestre) by Béla Bartók. Although the reference number has the prefix CR, this recording was not released in the US by Remington, but appeared on the Colosseum label (CLPS 1010).

 

At the basis was a collaboration between Concerteum and Remington which may have resulted in the production of a few French recordings, for example Georges Enesco conducting his Romanian Rhapsody No. 2. But his Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 is not found on Concerteum! Also there are no Concerteum discs with Enesco performing J.S.Bach's Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo, not even on another label in 1955. It is possible that the low quality of the original Continental discs prevented a release in France.

Concerteum Société Anonyme, 5 Boulevard Magenta, Paris 10ème, Téléphone NORD 76-81?

There are 2 recordings made with Jean Allain. He conducts 'Solistes de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris' in Symphony in C by Georges Bizet (Concerteum CR 231). This recording was released in the US on Remington R-199-31 in September 1951. There was another recording with conductor Allain of Excerpts from the opera Carmen, released in May 1951 on R-199-15. But this recording was not issued in France on Concerteum. There was a 7 Inch 45 rpm disc on the Pleiade label (P-45143) of some of the excerpts. A 12 inch disc is not listed in the French catalog. It is also possible that the release would have been deleted from the catalog.

Also the recordings of Céliny Chailley-Richez, especially the performances of Schumann's Piano Concerto (recorded in Vienna) and the recording of Enesco's Violin Sonata No. 2, may have found their origin in this contract. However, a release on the Concerteum label of Enesco's Sonata No. 2 could not be found. And as said earlier his Romanian Rhapsody No.1 was not available on Concerteum.

The contract for licensing to Concerteum was effective after many a Remington recording had already been made available in the US and the label had established itself there. This explains why the list does not show the releases of the recordings in the original sequence of production/release by Remington in the US.

For the pressings original Remington-matrices were used.
The vinyl had a somewhat better quality than the kind used by Don Gabor, hence there was less hiss and also the signal was generally of a better quality, although the quality of the matrix from the US remained the restricting factor.
In a few cases the label mentioned 'Une production DON GABOR' and instead of the crown (which is featured on the original Remington labels) there was a small logo picturing instruments or the silhouette of a conductor. Most labels mentioned Pressé sous license "REMINGTON RECORDS INC." New- York.

The reference-numbers and titles in the list below are taken from 'Disques de longue durée - Catalogue complet permanent - automne 1955' (Long Playing Records - Complete current catalog - Fall 1955).

The names of orchestras like L'Orchestre de la société symphonique de Vienne (Symphony Orchestra of the Viennese Symphonic Society), L'Orchestre symphonique autrichienne (Austrian Symphony Orchestra), L'Orchestre des Tonkuenstler (Lower Austrian Tonkunstler Orchestra), RIAS Symphony Orchestra, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, are mentioned as: "orch. autrichien", "orch. symph.", "orch. RIAS", "orch. Cincinnati".

This catalogue from 1955 did already list several Musirama recordings like the ones of the Renardy Caprices and the recording of the Liszt Concerto and Todtentanz by Edward Kilenyi and Jonel Perlea with the RIAS Symphony.

For Remington R-199-156 with Beethoven's First Symphony performed by the Austrian Symphony Orchestra led by conductor X, the Concerteum issue gives the name of Voiteh Srbrny-Holstein. The question is who is Voiteh Srbrny-Holstein. Whatever. The people from Concerteum were well aware of the fact that a record with conductor 'X' (as the original American release mentioned) would not be regarded as a serious item. Gabor named the conductor as X as a little revenge.

The real conductor - according to Billboard Magazine, and according to the data given by the Tonkuenstler Orchester - was Artur Rodzinski who was hired by Marcel Prawy to make some 5 recordings for the Remington label. But James C. Petrillo, head of the American Federation of Musicians, stated that any performance by Artur Rodzinski would be boycotted in the United States. Although Rodzinski initially replied that he was living in Italy and that the recordings would be taped in Vienna, he finally gave in to Petrillo's threat and choose not to get into conflict with the AFM. The Beethoven appeared on Remington. But the other 4 recordings were never made, or were never released.

There are several recordings not listed in the Fall of 1955: Jorge Bolet playing Chopin's Four Scherzi and Prokofiev's Second Concerto Op. 16; Etelka Freund's rendering of Sonata No. 3 of Brahms; the recordings of Alec Templeton; recordings of pianist Alfred Kitchin are missing as well. There is no Symphonie Fantastique conducted by Georges Sebastian listed, nor the Scheherazade recording with Karl Rucht, or the Glazunov Concerto performed by André Gabriel (=Roman Totenberg) with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra. There isn't a Concerteum release with Zoltan Kodaly's Cello Sonata Op. 4 performed by Richard Matuschka and pianist Otto Schulhof. They all could have been listed in a later edition of 'Disques de longue durée - Catalogue complet permanent' or would never have been available in France.

Also the early recordings of the Jilka Trio playing Beethoven's Archduke Trio (RLP-199-27) and of the Jilka Sextet playing Septet Op. 20 by Beethoven (RLP-33-22) are not available on Concerteum.

Three editions of Ludwig van Beethoven's Septet Op. 20 performed by the Jilka Septet on Nord-Musique, Europe-Musique and Boite a Disques respectively. Beethoven's Trio was available on Concerteum but the Septet was not pressed on the Concerteum label.	Beethoven Septuor en Mi Bémol, Op. 20 pour Clarinette, Cor, Basson et Cordes. SEPTUOR JILKA. Une Production Don Gabor DG 001. Matrix RE- 33-105-2 RE- 33-106-2

The recording of the Septet appeared in France on the Boite à Disques, Europe-Musique, and Nord-Musique labels. Most certainly labels of the same company. The label mentions 'Une Production Don Gabor'. The plates are cut by Remington, RE-33-105-2 and RE-33-106-2, and used in all 3 issues. The liner notes give an analysis of the Septet, but no information about the company, the address, or a selection from the catalogue. These labels are not listed in the 1955 edition of "Catalogue Permanent". Don Gabor travelled to France several times. This deal could be a try-out before an agreement with Concerteum was made.

If there is no Scheherezade by Rucht on Concerteum, there are two releases with him while conducting Scheherazade with the Berlin Radio Orchestra on Le Chant du Monde LDX A 8016, and there is the known Urania URLP 7133 disc. The Artist & Repertoire Department of Concerteum probably did not want to release a third Rucht record which would be a duplicate of the disc issued by Le Chant du Monde.

Several Reference Numbers are not listed in the composer section: CR 233, 243, 244, 246, 251, and many more. It is also possible that a few recordings which are missing or were not found because they had been deleted earlier from the Concerteum catalog or were assigned to other releases. As the 1955 French Record Catalog is the sole source available to me, some suggestions and suspicions can not be substantiated and verified, unless other catalogs or LP records will become available.

A few recordings are listed in the sections recital and folklore. Sylvia Marlowe's recital of works by Scarlatti, Bach and Couperin listed as CR 207 is also listed as CE 199. The Voudou recording of Emy de Pradines is released on CR 300. On CR 209 one finds the Carlos Montoya Flamenco recording.

On 10 inch Concerteums other folkore recordings can be found:
TCR 250 Calypso carnaval
TCR 253 Chants Indien de la prairie
TCR 265 Selah Jubilee quartet
TCR 294 Western songs

Recordings originating from Austria and appearing on Remington and a few on Masterseal were produced by Marcel Prawy. All titles were labeled as Remington recordings.

Marcel Prawy produced many recordings on his own account like 'Rêve de valse' (Ein Walzertraum, Dreamwaltz) by Oscar Srauss, released in France on Counterpoint CMC 120.001, the composer conducting the 'Tonkünstlerorchester', listed in 1955. The actual conductor in this recording is not Oscar Strauss who was already very old, yet very satisfied with the way Max Schönherr conducted the music.

There were Prawy productions which were not selected and not acquired by Donald Gabor for release in the US. And of course there were records produced by Prawy after his contract with Remington had ended at the beginning of 1953.

A few early Prawy-productions were released in the US on Gabor's Masterseal label. These recordings were not issued in France on Concerteum, but on Counterpoint. An example is the release in the series Viennese Operettas (Opérettes viennoises) of Oscar Strauss's 'Rêve de valse' (Ein Walzertraum, Dreamwaltz) on Counterpoint CMC 120.001, not conducted by the composer but by Max Schönherr. This recording was released in the USA in 1951 as Masterseal MW-47.

On several occasions Don Gabor traveled to Europe and also visited Paris where he met with Marcel Prawy who had travelled to Paris from Vienna. Marcel Prawy was his European representative. In Paris Gabor naturally discussed business with the people of the Concerteum label. Concerteum started issuing Remington recordings in France around 1953 or just somewhat earlier.

The labels were gold with a black background and silver with a purple background. The later labels were printed in blue on white paper which was more cost effective of course.

Below the front of the box with the recording of 'Le Messie' (The Messiah) conducted by Josef Messner.

Early Remington recordings were not issued by Concerteum. For example R-149-37 with violinist Eva Hitzker playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 5th Violin Concerto (KV 219) with Fritz Weidlich conducting, is missing from the catalog. Also the recording of Christmas Oratorio (Oratorio de noël) performed by Martha Schilling, Ruth Machaelis, Werner Hohmann, Bruno Lüller, the Stuttgart Choral Society and the Suebian Symphony Orchestra under Hans Grischkat is not in the Concerteum catalog. The release on Remington of this oratorio was an arrangement between Remington and the Period label in the US. But on the Remington label in the US fails the Grischkat Concerteum recording CR 321 of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater. That recording was issued in the US by the Period label, Reference 530. Many US firms were fishing in the same European pond.

And as said earlier, a release on the Concerteum label of George Enesco playing his own Sonata No. 2 and Schumann's Sonata (both with pianist Celiné Chailley-Richez) were not released in France or were deleted already before the "Fall 1955 catalog" was printed.

Jean-Paul Ditmarsch, a collector and a professional seller from Amsterdam, came up with a Paris Microsill disc from France. On it was a recital by violinist Arnold Eidus accompanied by pianist Eileen Flissler playing compositions by Henryk Wieniawski.
On the program:
Souvenir de Moscou from Airs russes, Caprice in A minor, Caprice in E Flat, Polonaise brillante in D Major, Op. 4, Polonaise brillante in A Major, Op. 21, Scherzo tarentelle. The recording was first listed in Schwann Long Playing Record Catalog in November, 1950.
The peculiarity was that the label states 'Une production Don Gabor'. These artists however did not appear on the Remington label in the US.

An explanation was quickly found in the 1955 edition of 'Disques de longue durée - Catalogue complet permanent - automne 1955'. In it the recording was listed as Concerteum CS 275.
Apparently it was issued later on the Paris Microsill label with reference GEM 34, probably when the Concerteum label had ceased to exist. In the USA this recording was issued on the Stradivari label, reference SLP 1003. That explains the S in the listing in the French catalog. Now other Stradivari recordings were located: Schumann Cello Concerto by George Ricci and the Orchestra Society of Rome and Schubert's Arpeggione on the reverse side also with George Ricci now accompanied by Leopold Mittman. The US reference is STR 612 released in October 1952. The recording became available in France as Concerteum S 193. Another Stradivari recording on Concerteum was Mozart's Quintet for clarinet K 581 and Quintet for horn K 407 played by Vincent de Rosa, Augustin Duques, the Stradivari Quartet, Concerteum CS 268 released in the US in the Spring of 1951. Another Stradivari recording (released in the US in December, 1951) whbich appeared on Concerteum is Poulenc's Trio for trombone, horn and trumpet and Septet by Saint-Saëns performed by Brooks Smith, Harry Glantz and the Stradivari Quartet. Reference Concerteum CS 191. There is no Concerteum CR 191 based on a Remington recording. The same goes for the recording of the Wieniawski gems. There are no CR (R meaning Remington) recordings numbered 191, 268, and there is no 275. Obviously the people at Concerteum regarded the CS releases being recordings of Don Gabor.

Arnold Eidus and George Ricci were the founders of Stradivari Records. Wikipedia mentions that Billboard reported in its November 4, 1950, issue, that Eidus and Ricci "are producing chamber music in which they perform. Eidus and Ricci also handle all technical work themselves, including recording on tape and mastering." Wikipedia: "Besides Eidus and Ricci, the label's artist roster included pianist Leopold Mittman, conductor Alfred Vittori, violinist Emanuel Green, conductor Henri Rosco, flutist Guido Novello, and violinist Reno Fantuzzi."

 

The appearance of Stradivari recordings in France on Concerteum as being "Une Production Don Gabor" soon gave way to a contract of Stradivari with the French label Contrepoint. The recording of works by Turina and Hindemith performed by Louis Persinger and son Rolf on STR 608, reviewed in High Fidelity Magazine, Summer of 1952 edition, already appeared on Contrepoint (MC 20076). The Stradivari recording of Arnold Eidus in Violin Concerto of Jean Sibelius on Stradivari STR 611, reviewed in High Fidelity in 1953, was also released in France on Contrepoint (MC 20056).

Don Gabor not only had an ear for music but a sharp eye and a bright mind for business and the early 1950's were exciting years for any entrepeneur when the new market for LP records opened up and expanded. Gabor may have been asked by the Stradivari owners to explore possibilities for their recordings to be released in Europe. Or Gabor just may have suggested that he could consult the people from the Concerteum label if they would be interested in a few recordings. It is clear that the release of Stradivari recordings on Concerteum was more or less a trial as later Stradivari recordings were issued in France on the Contrepoint label.

 

The following Remington titles were issued on Concerteum:

CR 204 Beethoven: 3e Symphonie - Fritz Busch, chef d'orchestre
Alb.205 Haendel: Messiah - Josef Messner, chef d'orchestre
CR 206 Beethoven: Concerto n° 5 - Felicitas Karrer, piano - Kurt Wöss, chef d'orchestre
CR 207 Bach: Toccata, Scarlatti Sonatas, Couperin: Les folies françaises - Sylvia Marlowe, clavecin
CR 208 Beethoven: 8e Symphonie, Haydn 101e Symphonie - Fritz Busch
TCR 211 Beethoven: 5e Symphonie - Hans Wolf
CR 212 Rachmaninoff: 2e Concerto - Felicitas Karrer, piano - Kurt Wöss, chef d'orchestre
TCR 213 J. Strauss: Valses - Kurt Wöss
CR 214 Brahms: Danses hongroises - Albert Spalding, violon
CR 215 Tchaikowsky: Symphonie n° 4 - H. Arthur Brown
CR 216 Brahms: Concerto - Albert Spalding, violoniste - Wilhelm Loibner, chef d'orchestre
CR 217 Paganini: Caprices 1-12 - Ossy Renardy, violoniste
CR 218 Beethoven: Concerto - Albert Spalding, violoniste - Wilhelm Loibner, chef d'orchestre
CR 219 Bruch: Concerto, Kol nidrei - Michèle Auclair, violon - Wilhelm Loibner, chef d'orchestre
CR 220 Haydn: 93e Symphonie, Schubert: 3e Symphonie - George Singer
CR 221 Mozart: Requiem - Hilde Gueden, Rosette Anday, Julius Patzak, Josef Greindl - Josef Messner
CR 222 Beethoven: Sonates nos 4 et 5 - Paul Kling, violoniste
CR 223 Bruckner: 3e Symphonie Zoltan Fekete
CR 224 Dvorak: Danses slaves Op. 46 - George Singer
CR 225 Beethoven: Sonate n° 2 - Walter Schneiderhan, violon, Erich Berg, piano; Sonate no 8 - Helen Airoff, violon et Céliny Chailley-Richez, piano
CR 226 Chopin: Sonates nos 2 et 3 - Edouard (Edward) Kilenyi, piano
CR 227 Chopin: Valses - Edouard (Edward) Kilenyi, piano
CR 228 Haydn: 88e, 100e Symphonies - Paul Walter
CR 229 Beethoven: Waldstein et Les adieux - Edouard (Edward) Kilenyi, piano
CR 230 Mussorgski (Moussorgski): Tableaux d'une exposition - Sari Biro, piano
CR 231 Tchaikowsky: Concerto piano-orchestre - Hermann Schwertmann, piano
CR 232 Beethoven: 6e Symphonie - Kurt Wöss
CR 234 Schumann: Concerto piano-orchestre - Céliny (Céline) Chailley-Richez, pianiste
CR 235 Mozart: Symphonie concertante - Kurt Wöss, 20e Concerto - Fritz Weidlich
CR 236 Debussy: Préludes - Edouard (Edward) Kilenyi, piano
CR 237 Franck: Symphonie - Hans Wolf
CR 238: Bizet: Symphonie en Do (Symphony in C) Soloists of l'Orchestre du Conservatoire - Jean Allain (matrix numbers RE-33-222-2 / RE-33-223-2).
CR 239 Beethoven: Sonates nos 30 et 31 - Jörg Demus, piano
CR 240 Beethoven: 7e Trio - Jilka Trio
CR 241 Bach: Partita no 1, Suite française - Jörg Demus, piano
CR 242 Chopin: Etudes op. 10 - Edouard (Edward) Kilenyi, piano
CR 244 Schumann: Concerto Op. 54 - Celiny Chailley-Richez, piano, Robert Heger.

CR 245 Dvorak: 5e Symphonie - George Singer
CR 247 Tchaikowsky: Concerto violon-orchestre - Michèle Auclair, violoniste, Kurt Wöss
CR 248 Tchaikowsky: Symphonie n°. 6 - H. Arthur Brown
CR 249 Tchaikowsky: Symphonie n° 5 - Kurt Wöss

CR 250 Beethoven, Chopin - Alexander Jenner, piano
CR 254 Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites No. 1 et 2, Orchestre Symphonique Autrichien, H. Arthur Brown, Max Schönherr
TCR 255 Tchaikowsky: Casse-noisette - Kurt Wöss
TCR 256 Schubert: Inachevée - H. Arthur Brown
TCR 257 Mozart Symphonie Haffner (N. 35) - Hans Wolf
TCR 259 Mendelssohn: Concerto violon-orchestre - Walter Schneiderhan, violoniste
TCR 262 Mozart: 41e Symphonie (Jupiter) - Kurt Wöss
TCR 266 Rimsky-Korsakov: Suite Le coq d'or - George Singer
CR 267 Haendel: Triomphe de la Vérité
TCR 269 Enesco: Rapsodie Roumaine n° 2 , Enesco Orchestre Colonne - Smetena: Moldau - George Singer
TCR 270 Beethoven: 7e Sonate - Walter Schneiderhan, violon
TCR 271 Brahms: Sonate pour violoncelle - Gaspar Cassadó, violoncelle, Otto Schulhof, piano
TCR 272 Franck: Variations symphoniques - Frieda Valenzi, piano. Debussy: Prélude à l'après midi d'ún faun - Jean Moreau
TCR 273 Mozart: 13e Serenade - Fritz Weidlich and Mozart: Thamos, Koenig in Aegypten (musique de scene) - Felix Guenther
CR 280 Liszt, Schumann, Chopin - Simon Barere, piano
CR 281 Corelli, Tartini: Sonates - Albert Spalding, violon
CR 282 Dvorak: Concerto - Gaspar Cassadó, cello, Kurt Wöss, chef d'orchestre
Alb.284 Haydn: Les sept dernières paroles de Jésu Christ - Josef Messner
CR 285 Franck: Sonate, Ravel Sonate - Ossy Renardy, violon - Eugene List, piano

CR 286 Haendel: Watermusic, Mozart Overtures - Hans Koslik
CR 287 Bach: La passion selon St. Jean - Gottfried Preinfalk
CR 289 Bartók: Pièces pour le piano - Béla et Ditta Bartok au piano
CR 290 Verdi: Requiem - Hans Koslik
CR 291 Rossini: Stabat mater - Josef Messner
CR 292 Mozart: Concertos K216 et 218 - Gérard Poulet, violon, Gaston Poulet, chef d'orchestre
CR 293 Mussorgski: Une nuit sur le mont chauve - Hans Koslik; Rimsky-Korsakov: Capricio Espagnol - Mehlich; Borodine: Danses Polovetsiennes - Hans Koslik.
CR 309 Bach: Well Tempered Clavier Nos 15 & 16 Partita No. 6 - Jörg Demus, piano
CR 310 Schubert: Sonate No. 21 Op. Posthume - Jörg Demus, piano

CR 328 Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Balakirev recital - Simon Barere, piano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Fantasia in F Minor KV 608 arranged by Zoltan Fekete, issued on Remington R-199-2, was initially issued on CR 295, coupled with Symphony No. 33, but existed also on Concerteum CF 261, not the Remington Series. Here not performed by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra conducted by Zoltán Fekete, but the Viennese Opera Orchestra which most likely was another name for the Tonkünstler Orchester or Austrian Symphony Orchestra. The Remington release was coupled with Symphony No. 1 of Franz Schubert conducted by Kurt Wöss.

CR 296 Chants d'Espagne: Lydia Ibarrondo, singer, Miguel Sandoval, piano, Juan Oñatibia, txistu and tuntun
CR 297 Liszt: 1re Concerto, Danse macabre - Edouard (Edward) Kilenyi, piano - Jonel Perlea
CR 298 Beethoven: 1re Symphonie - Holstein - Beethoven 8e Symphony - Fritz Busch
CR 299 Debussy: La boîte a joujoux - Jonel Perlea
CR 301 Dvorak: 4e Symphonie (8) - Thor Johnson
CR 302 Lehar et Strauss - Gerhard Becker
CR 304 Offenbach: Gaité parisienne - Manuel Rosenthal
TCR 304 Ravel: Tombeau de Couperin - Frieda Valenzi, piano (Frieda Valenzi playing selections from Goyescas were not listed)
CR 309 Bach: Partita n° 6, Préludes nos 15 et 16 - Jörg Demus, piano
CR 310 Schubert: Sonata n° 21 - Jörg Demus, piano
CR 312 Chopin: 1re Concerto piano-orchestre - Edouard (Edward) Kilenyi, piano
CR 313 Mendelssohn: Songe d'une nuit d'été - H. Arthur Brown
CR 314 Grieg: Concerto pour piano et orchestre - Felicitas Karrer
Also listed under CR 314 are 7th Symphony (Haydn) conducted by Karl Randolph and Mozart's K 448 performed by Pierre Luboshutz & Genia Nemenoff is also listed as CR 314 which can have been a mistake by the editors of the catalog
CR 315 Mozart: Cosi fan tutte (3x 30 cm) - Josef Dunwald
CR 321 Pergolèse: Stabat Mater - Hans Grischkat is not a Remington recording but was released in the USA on Period 530
CR 325 Liszt: Etudes de concert - Simon Barere, piano (there is no listing in the French catalog of the Sonata performed by Simon Barere, originally recorded on acetates in 1947 and transferred to Lp)
CR 326 Bartok: Suite d'orchestre - Zoltan Fekete; released in the US on Colosseum CLPS 1010
CR 328 Liszt, Balakirev, Rachmaninoff - Simon Barere, pianiste
CR 329 Haydn: Cello Concerto - Gaspar Cassadó, violoncelliste

Concerteum also released several 7" records. One was ECR 71 with excerpts from Schumann's Kinderszenen (Scênes d'Enfant) coupled with one of Dohnanyi's Rhapsodies performed by Ernst von Dohnanyi.

And there were popular Remingtons too. One of these was the recording of the Selah Jubilee Quartet on TCR 265. But there was no mention of "The Dixiaires" who sang four of the eight selections.

Research and text by Rudolf A. Bruil. Page first published May, 2003