anonymous

A number of orchestral 78rpm records were issued with no conductor credited on the label.
Schubert – Rosamunde – Overture
Sutherland Orchestra
Beltona 646
Matrices C6520, 6521
Recorded c1924 (issued November 1924)

The issue date given above is for the original ACO record on G15527, where it was credited to the Grosvenor Orchestra. This also was a pseudonym, covering both original recordings and reissues, including American Aeolian Light Orchestra and British Aeolian Orchestra and Regent Symphony Orchestra records.

My copy of this record is fractured, and I have done my best to ameliorate the regular click and thump which lasted through both sides of the record.

Delibes – Ballet de Sylvia – Prelude and Pizzicato; Intermezzo & Valse Lente
Symphony Orchestra
Broadcast 108 (8”)
Matrices Z31X, Z32X
Recorded: c1929

The record is in poor condition with noise and distortion.

Thomas – Mignon Overture
Symphony Orchestra, Berlin
Broadcast Twelve 5104
Matrices 8321, 8322
Recorded: c1929

Thanks to Raoul Konezni for telling me that this disc contains Orchestrola matrices from early 1929 with Orchester der Städtischen Oper Berlin, conducted by Hans Schlesinger.

Luigini – Ballet Egyptien
Symphony Orchestra
Broadcast 107 (8”)
Matrices Z29, Z30
Recorded late 1920s, Concert Hall Recording
Orth – In the Clock Store
Orchestra
and anonymous organist, at the Stoll Picture Theatre
Grainger – Shepherd’s Hey
Symphony Orchestra
Broadcast 269 (8″)
Matrices Z 421X, Z 449
Recorded late 1920s
Rossini – The Barber of Seville – Overture
National Symphony Orchestra

Download – Rossini – Barber of Seville – Overture – NSO

(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)

Zonophone 5569 (10”)
Matrices Yy 16727-II, 16728-II (30-777/8)
Recorded 27th August 1929, Kingsway Hall, London

Side 1: bars 1-5, 11-19, 22-90 + 1st beat of bar 91
Side 2: bars 92-250, 255-264

No conductor is named on the label or in the matrix listings, though George W Byng was the most frequent conductor for other sessions with this group.

Liszt arr. Sommer – Liebestraume
Drigo arr. A Goossens – Les Tresors de Columbine, Air de Ballet
Viennese Symphony Orchestra
Piccadilly No.113
Matrices XX 1160-3 (78), XX 1161-3 (68)
Recorded c1930

Records on the Piccadilly record label have appeared on this site before: pseudonymous recordings of tenor and violin solos. The latest record given here is the rather vaguely named “Viennese Symphony Orchestra”. The Liszt side obviously received rather more play than the Drigo, and is consequently more worn. I’m unsure whether the arranger of the Drigo piece is connected to the famous Goossens family.

Kronberger and Marriott – The Frog King’s Parade (March)


Mozart – Marriage of Figaro – Overture (slightly abridged)


Viennese Orchestra

(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”, or left click to play)

Piccadilly No.338
Matrices: XX 2016, 2034
Recorded c1930

This may be the same group as the Viennese Symphony Orchestra above. The orchestra appears not to have oboes or bassoons – a prominent bassoon line in the Mozart is played by a bass clarinet. Bars 18 to 34, 236 to 243 and 266 to 283 are cut from the overture.

Nicolai – The Merry Wives of Windsor – Overture
The New State Symphony Orchestra
Decca K.634
Matrices 30221, 30222
Recorded early 1930s – reviewed in Gramophone February 1932

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