Historical classical music recordings
Pre-stereo and early stereo recordings of notable performances.
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Historical classical music recordings are generally those made before the stereo era of vinyl disc recording, which began around 1957. As time passes, even early stereo recordings are released as historical if they were never issued or were dropped from catalogs due to loss of popularity or antiquated sound. Such recordings often come from notable artists and performances, including private recordings made at concerts or radio broadcasts.
Quick Facts
- Stereo era began
- around 1957
- Philips records series
- Great Pianists of the 20th Century
Facts from the source article.
Recordings issued by arts organizations
Broadcast archives from orchestras and opera companies serve as key sources for historical classical music recordings. The Metropolitan Opera in New York offers some of its historic broadcast recordings to donors. During the late 1980s, the Metropolitan Opera Guild produced many two-disc sets titled Great Operas at the Met, compiling arias from individual operas, with performances spanning the early 1900s through the early stereo years. The Boston Symphony Orchestra released a 12-CD collection in the 1980s called Boston Symphony Orchestra Symphony Hall Centennial Celebration: From the Broadcast Archives 1943-2000, which is now downloadable from the orchestra’s website.
Recordings made and shared privately by clubs, internet groups, blogs, and other
There are various ways live classical performances get documented, including from radio, internet streams, personal microphones, and performer earpieces. These are called Recordings Of Indeterminate Origin, or ROIOs. Blogs, clubs, and online groups freely trade these often commercially unavailable recordings. Many historic recordings that start as freely traded ROIOs eventually become commercial releases.
More in Classical Music Record Labels
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Historical classical music recordings (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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