[ARSCLIST] Hatto, and a question

[Karl Miller <karl.miller@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

--- David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Anyone remember the Aries label, around 1980? 

I remember it well and have many of the records and am
quoted on the liner notes of one of them. For many of
us, they were a wonderful introduction to works we
might have been able to hear otherwise. Interestingly,
much of the repertoire they released has subsequently
received legit recordings. 

And on the subject of "invented" performers...does
anyone out there know who the performers were on La
Brea (No.8012 "Manufactured by the Apex Record
Corporation 1023 La Brea avenue, Hollywood,
California) disc of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto
No.1 ["Rudolf Bodenhiem, piano; Koussevitzky
conductor"] It is a studio recording and the sound is
quite decent. In all of the literature there is no
reference to this being a Koussevitsky recording, also
the sound quality is clearly post 1950, and who is
Rudolf Bodenhiem?


> Ernst Lumpe, who unfortunately got sucked into the
> Hatto mess, has written for 
> a number of years on identifying some of the
> pseudonymous labels such as Allegro.

For me this is so ironic. Lumpe has done amazing work
tracking down performers on labels like Royal,
Plymouth, etc. He has an incredible ear and an huge
collection...and is very generous with his collection.


I also find it a wonderful commentary on how few
really listen and how subject reviewers are to hype of
one sort or another. It would seem that the notions of
"greatness" are highly subject to marketing and hype
and that we all can fall victim to such manipulation.

But then, one can question the basic notions of
"honesty" in recordings. As one of my friends wrote in
an essay, there is no honesty these days and that with
all of the editing we are selling and consuming
lies...an interesting perspective...

Karl