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The earliest recordings of broadcasts

of live concerts and radio plays

 

Plattenschneider-Pruefung-for-webGerman radio stations were able, from about 1929, thanks to a highly sophisticated piece of technical equipment, called a “Plattenschneider” or record cutter, to record radio programmes as they were transmitted and to archive them on wax discs with a capacity of 3 to 4 minutes duration each.

Short radio plays, readings and excerpts from concert broadcasts were chosen for the first recordings, allowing them to be made available to the various broadcasting stations belonging to the German Reich broadcasting corporation for their repeated use.

As a result, these recordings have been preserved for posterity, providing a unique insight into broadcasts of live concerts by the Staatskapelle of Dresden under the orchestra’s GMD Fritz Busch and by the Choir of St Thomas’s Church directed by the Thomaskantor Karl Straube.

 

Brahms-Rundfunkplatte-for-web

Konzert der Staatskapelle Dresden
Conductor: Fritz Busch

Johannes Brahms: 2. Sinfonie
25. Februar 1931
Liveübertragung aus der (Alten) Berliner Philharmonie

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 Bach-Rundfunkplatte-for-web

Thomanerchor Leipzig
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Conductor: Karl Straube

The broadcasts of Bach’s cantatas from Leipzig

Recordings: from easter 1931

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Orchester der Funk-Stunde Berlin
Conductor: Maximilian Albrecht

Paul Hindemith: Radio-Moritat „Sabinchen“
Auftragswerk der Berliner Funkstunde 1930

Ursendung: 22. Juni 1930 / Sendesaal

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 Etikett-Versuchsaufnahme-Funkstunde-Berlin-Joseph-Schmidt-for-web

Orchester der Funk-Stunde Berlin
Berliner Rundfunkchor
Conductor: Paul Breisach

Adolphe Adam: Der Postillion von Lonjumeau: Freunde vernehmet die Geschichte
Joseph Schmidt, Tenor

Record: Januay 7. 1932 / Sendesaal

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