# Who was Harry Reims?



## krax

A few weeks ago I bought a 50's vinyl with Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with a man called Harry Reims on piano. I can't find anything about him. Does anyone know anything about him?


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## joen_cph

The name appears on an old Liszt concerto LP from the Royale label too
https://www.discogs.com/Liszt-Gerd-...rchestra-Hungarian-Rhapsodies/release/8445845

The conductor on that recording is "Gerd Rubahn", which is a fictional character used by the label to disguise that it was a pirate release
https://www.discogs.com/artist/3198900-Gerd-Rubahn
so the pianist is probably fictional too.

For example, the label's Rubahn Bruckner 3rd is actually Hans Schmidt Isserstedt's recording
https://www.abruckner.com/editorsnote/features/thegerdrubahnbruck/

And further, similar cases with Rubahn, plus one with Reims:
http://www.soundfountain.com/allegro-royale/catalogue.html

One "Harry Reims" recording of Rachmnainov's 3rd Concerto has thus been identified as that of Lympany.

The proofs of him being fictional are therefore convincing.


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## krax

Thanks! I didn't care searching for the conductor before, but doing it now - Joseph Balzer - yields similar answers. Didn't know such things were done. It certainly explains the sound quality.


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## joen_cph

Yeah, it can be a bit fascinating though, trying to figure out what the real recordings are, some being quite good musically, and whether they have been edited. Sound is usually very poor, however. There's a wealth of information on-line.

The most well-known and published example from the CD era is the Joyce Hatto affair, where recordings by others were issued in her name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Hatto


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## Merl

Another Alfred Scholz affair? Charlatans everywhere!


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## amfortas

krax said:


> A few weeks ago I bought a 50's vinyl with Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with a man called Harry Reims on piano. I can't find anything about him. Does anyone know anything about him?


He later went on to another career, with a slight spelling change to his name.


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## Strange Magic

amfortas said:


> He later went on to another career, with a slight spelling change to his name.


Yes. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Reems


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## Barbebleu

amfortas said:


> He later went on to another career, with a slight spelling change to his name.


:lol:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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