The idea was printed on the record jackets: "Critically acclaimed recordings of the basic repertoire which belong in every library of great music" and also promised these were "Carefully remastered from the original master tapes, recut on the latest Neumann lathes and pressed on virgin vinyl."

Conductors such as John Barbirolli and Jascha Horenstein and pianist Earl Wild were featured in these reissues.

Series issued included: Quintessence also licensed and reissued recordings from Sony Music, EMI, Harmonia Mundi, Melodiya, Deutsche Grammophon, RCA, and Supraphon.

Many of the record jackets included discographical details such as dates, locales, producers and engineers.

9 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jascha Horenstein (recorded by Decca for Reader's Digest at Walthamstow Assembly Hall in January 1962).