Excerpt of 1944 stereo tape recording with Bruckner Berliner Staatsoper and Karajan (8th Symphony)

This is a short excerpt of the final movment of Bruckner's 8th Symphony performed by the Berliner Staatsoper with Herbert von Karajan.
The first three movements were either not recorded in stereo, or the tapes did not survive. Mono recordings exist, however.
This wonderful recording shows how advanced the German sound recording technology was. The earliest known german stereo recording dates 1943, although the patents date 1942.
Around 250 stereo recordings were made, but only two complete ones survived in addition to this incomplete performance. They are believed to have been destroyed by bombings.
Over a decade passed until the tape recording industry adopted stereo in 1955. It is still a mystery why the germans did not always record live performances in stereo, but in the other hand, mono recordings gave better dynamics and output level.

Note that I'm looking for AEG Magnetophon machines. If you have one please let me know.

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[Antoshik81]

These damn Nazis knew how to record music better than how to win the wars.

[videogamehistorian]

@Antoshik81AEG purchased the Pfleumer patent in 1930 and already built a working prototype in 1932, before Hitler was elected. So the nazis were absolutely not involved in the development of the Magnetophon. They only used it for the propaganda.

[Antoshik81]

@videogamehistorian I think the first AEG magnetophon K1 was first introduced in 1935.. but nevertheless, i was trying to make a rather teasing remark anyway, since clearly the praise is due where it's due. BTW, this classic piece is only monstrously awesome!

[videogamehistorian]

@Antoshik81 You are right, the K1 was first introduced during the Berlin Radio Fair in 1935. It was quickly followed by the K2 (which almost everybody calls K1). The K1 has 3 buttons on the left with the fourth over the second. All others (K2 and after) had 4 buttons aligned. However, four prototypes were made between 1932 and 1934. The picture of the last one is shown in my video about the first AEG tape recorded with music.

[chromal]

As always, I'm continually amazed by the level of technological achievement the Germans realized up through the end of WW-II in Europe. And how many of those technologies we Americans took as the spoils of war went on to almost define the 20th century as we know it. Hi-fi recording, rocketry and SRBMs, avionics, just to name a scant few.

[WCPR1620AM]

@SatchmoSings "Fantasia" was the first example for a soundtrack album when it was first released in a 3-LP set with a 24-page booklet and it was made in 1957. It was the first LP released in stereo with Leopold Strokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

[Parkinson9999]

I would never tell that this record was made in 1944! German technology was definitely advanced back then.

[SatchmoSings]

@Individuell83 Well of course the first stereo records came out in late 1957 to early 1958 but many record companies had begun RECORDING in stereo starting around 1954; they then back-released stereo versions of these recordings.

Also, about the time you mentioned, stereo records began to also be cut differently; the vertical element was eliminated and with this, stereo records became fully compatible on mono players.

[Individuell83]

@SatchmoSings but the first stereo recordings on records came out in late 57 early 58

and maybe 1 of 200 people had a stereo sistem at that time

that didn't even change till the early sixties.

at that time records were released as both stereo and mono.

Most labels did that till the mid 60's 66-67

like motown for example

[SatchmoSings]

@Individuell83 Because you had people who had TONS of phonographs that were only built to play monophonically!

When stereo RECORDS came out, they were not compatible with good quality, hi-fidelity mono record players because the masters had to be cut differently; if you look at an early, genuine stereo disc, you can actually see this, it looks much like an old, vertically-cut Pathe record which is precisely what made it stereo.

Record companies had been RECORDING in stereo since roughly 1954

[SatchmoSings]

@videogamehistorian You asked for a hi-fi (or nearly so) 78 by RCA Victor from the early 1930s, so here is one; you can hear the degradation as the cutting head neared the center of the disk; the poster did not compensate for velocity degradation this way:

watch?v=8ufWoyMAS0w

Another thing Victor did was to record 78s from two different perspectives and issue them separately; reconstructed, they do play in genuine stereo.

[videogamehistorian]

@SatchmoSings This was experimental. All known stereo recordings made by the Bell Labs were issued on LP (2 volumes) called Early Hi-Fi. Indeed the quality is surprising. The records were 33rpm, as being cut and played electricaly. If you know other recordings than those on the LPs I'd be curious to hear them. Also, what are those hifi 78s ?

[SatchmoSings]

@chromal The US had hi-fi and stereo recording on disk in the early 1930s, indeed, many commercial dance-band releases made by RCA Victor were in hi-fi; the practice was discontinued because the average phonograph would degrade these grooves very quickly; RCA Victor also used this equipment to make long-play records though they still used standard groove, not microgroove.

There are many stereo disk recordings of The Philadelphia Orch in concert being led by Leopold Stokowski.