jmc's classics
Today is the anniversary of the first NBC broadcast of a music program in 1926. In 1936 they would create the NBC Symphony Orchestra for famed conductor Arturo Toscanini. Unfortunately, the orchestra disbanded after Toscanini's death in 1957. This is one of the first orchestras that I had heard of as a child.
There are some major radio symphony orchestras in Europe but to the best of my knowledge, there are not any in existence in America now. Before television some of the major broadcasting companies had their own studio orchestras. Some played on their own radio shows and for some of the other programs. NBC (National Broadcasting Company) started in 1926 and was owned by RCA. its major competitors were CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System) which started in 1927 and MBC (Mutual Broadcasting Company which started in in 1934. Because of anti-trust laws, NBC was split in to the red and blue networks in 1943. The red became ABC (American Broadcasting Company), and the blue became NBC. The two operated closely for the next two years. MBC became Westwood One in 1999. They did not get into television like the others did. There may have been other networks in America- I am not sure. The Grand Ole Opry began in Nashville, TN in 1927. It followed a The Music Appreciation Hour which was broadcast by the NBC Red Network. This was a music appreciation show that played Classical Music and selections from Grand Opera. When the Grand Ole Opry began. The announcer said that you had been listening to grand opera but from now on you will be listening to Grand Ole Opry. The Grand Ole Opry is a big venue in Nashville. IN the Golden Age of Radio, many stations broadcasted live concerts of all music genres. This included Classical as well as Big Band and Swing. NBC broadcasted live performances from the Metropolitan Opera until recently. For years it had been sponsored by Texaco Oil. PBS broadcast a lot of Metropolitan Opera performances and Classical Concerts. NPR has a good line up of classical broadcasts. I wish that the NBC Symphony Orchestra would be recreated. There are a lot of recordings of the NBC Symphony Orchestra on CD.
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