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Allegretto
Established by the owner of Vox in the 1980s, around the advent of the CD era, Allegretto was intended to create compilations derived from the Vox catalogue’s extensive archives, themed for a more contemporary generation than its sister labels’ focus on repertoire and collectors. Eschewing its history of comprehensive liner notes and artistic approach to cover art, Allegretto took a more populist approach to its themes, packaging and design.
Cameo Classics - Vox
Continuing in the tradition of its populist imprint Allegretto, the Vox label created the Vox Cameo Classics imprint in the early 1990s. Intended as a truly low budget-priced entry to the retail CD marketplace, the imprint found success with non-traditional themes (for classical music) such as “Cossacks!”, “Dynamic Duos”, “Classics Tales in Music”, etc. The hope was to introduce a casual music customer to classical performances via a mainstream marketing approach.
Candide
One of the basic tenets of the founder of Vox, George Mendelssohn, was his belief in recording unique repertoire and underappreciated artists and composers. In the late 1960s, Mendelssohn established a new mid-priced imprint, Candide, focusing on unusual repertory from both the recent and distant past. In particular, mid-20th century composers such as Xenakis and Penderecki found the first recorded home for many of their newer compositions. Neglected 19th century composers such as Sigismond Thalberg were also “discovered” again on Candide. As with previous Vox and Turnabout LPs, Candide provided a great deal of space for extensive liner notes on these new and unknown works, written by eminent historians and musicologists.
MMG
The imprint MMG (Moss Music Group) was founded in 1978 by Ira Moss, the successor of George Mendelssohn as owner of the Vox label, for release in the US of recordings licensed from third parties. Vox Cum Laude, founded at approximately the same time, was the home for new recordings owned by Vox Productions. Though not extensive in number of releases, the artists and repertoire on Vox Cum Laude reflected the high artistic quality established by Mendelssohn decades earlier. Underappreciated, yet artistically top-tier performers such as Ivan Moravec, Elmar Oliveira and the Tokyo String Quartet gained popularity through their performances on Vox Cum Laude.
Turnabout
Established in 1965, Turnabout was established as a low-price, single LP label for new recordings by Vox Productions. Although the label contains some reissues from the original Vox label, as well as some historical recordings licensed from third parties, Turnabout quickly became the dominant imprint of the company’s new recording projects. Turnabout’s repertoire encompassed a wide range, from solo instrumental works to chamber music to concerto recordings. Choral and symphonic works, in addition to some acclaimed early music recordings by ensembles such as the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, added to the expansive musical approach. Cover art also demonstrated diversity, ranging from traditional “fine-art” reproductions to 1960s-style cartoons. Though its presentation was less austere than its Vox predecessors, the high standards of the liner note writing, and most importantly, the artistic quality, was maintained.
Vox
Vox is a label which has built up a substantial catalogue and has continued to provide high quality budget releases ever since its launch in 1945 when it pioneered this concept.
Vox Box
In the early 1950s, George Mendelssohn, the founder of Vox, came up with an idea for a three-LP boxed set, with value in mind, rather than the more elaborate deluxe boxed sets he had previously released on the label. Though the composition of the box itself, and its outer simple design, portrayed this concept to the purchaser, the retention of copious, excellently researched and written liner notes, as well as the dedication to high artistic standards of performance, remained true to the Vox philosophy. These new Vox Boxes consisted of both new recordings as well as reissues from the back catalogue. Comprehensive collections of chamber music and string quartet cycles of Bartok, Haydn and other composers, in addition to monumental performances, such as the complete Beethoven piano sonatas by Alfred Brendel and complete orchestral works of Ravel and Gershwin, were the foundation of the Vox recording business for the rest of the LP era (and the beginning of the CD era), and cemented the Vox Box as arguably the physical apex of Vox’s legacy.
Vox Legends
Comprised of single-artist compilations, this imprint launched in the 1990s celebrates the greatest performances and artists from the early years of the Vox catalogue. The conductors Jascha Horenstein and Otto Klemperer, the pianists Guiomar Novaes and Lili Kraus and the cellist Gaspar Cassado provide examples of the strong artistic foundation upon which Vox was based, and from which it evolved.
Vox Cum Laude