Founded in 1945 by George Mendelssohn Bartoldy (1912–1988), VOX played a major role in recognizing and launching the careers of young talents like: Alfred Brendel, Ingrid Haebler, Walter Klien, Michael Ponti, Aaron Rosand, Ivry Gitlis, Michael Gielen and Rolf Reinhardt. It also (re)-aquainted American listeners to senior artists such as: Otto Klemperer, Jasha Horenstein, Ionel Perlea, Hans Rosbaud, Clemens Krauss, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Lili Kraus, Vlado Perlmutter, György Sandor, Friedrich Wührer. Further artists who recorded for Mendelssohn were: Rugiero Ricci, Shura Cherhassky, Susanne Lauterbacher, Robert Firkusny, Abbey Simon.
The many imprints of VOX included: Vox Music Masters (founded in 1946 with educational purpose in mind), VOX BOX, TURNABOUT and CANDIDE – all of them LP labels. Their releases are still sought after by collectors due not only to the recordings themselves, but also to the quality of the liner notes and the highly artistic approach of the artworks. The CD era brought further imprints like MMG, Allegretto, Vox Cameo Classics and Vox Legends and were based increasingly on compilations and licensed material and less on new recordings.
Vox’s repertoire breadth is comprehensive, from medieval music to 20th century contemporary composition. Many of the VOX recordings – especially those of complete orchestral cycles with American orchestras – were realized by the Grammy awarded production team of Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz from the Elite Recordings Studio, with many others being realized by the Südwest Tonstudio from Germany founded by Heinz Jansen.
