The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Greetings all! My daughter called round last evening with a very heavy box of 78s that she did not need anymore. Yes, the same old boring titles that turn up in nearly every pile,( or is it because I have collected for so many years that I have seen so many records?), and I thought what charity shop could I land them on to, when, near the end of this pile, I discovered a make I have never owned before-an ANKER German record. I know they do not occur very often in the country. The last ones I saw were when I was sorting Peter Copeland's collection when he died. He had several black label issues.
Now, I thought I would look to see if there any copies of this disc available, and there was. I knew these records commanded high prices,- very few for sale under £45 in English money! A copy of my record was for sale for over 90 quid! It seems the artist is playing a different Strad violin on each side. I have played the record, and indeed the reproduction is good, with a fine toned piano accompaniment.
So you never know what is going to turn up do you...? Collecting old records, still a wonderful hobby, combined with the machines that play them!

Very nice indeed !

I also have an Anker record - although I feel a bit cheated as my label is no-where near as beautiful as yours !

From a wonderful collection I bought for very little - long, long ago .............

(I guess they are the same label anyway ?)

THANK YOU, poodling around for sharing the picture of an "ANKER" record in your collection. A very novel and interesting label indeed. I must try to find out more about the company that made these records.

What a lovely label Alastair. This link may be helpful :

https://www.russian-records.com/categor ... tone%20O.M.

That's a nice record, Alastair. I have a couple of these that came in a pile, they were worn and the music was dull but the label is quite interesting (I would post a photo if I could find them!). The old German record companies were very creative with their labels, they made the most colorful ones, only matched by some US records like the early Okeh.

Anker seems to have been an exceptionally enterprising company. In 1913 they recorded about three-quarters of the first act of Wagner's Walküre, an extraordinary effort for the time. This and many other recordings were accompanied not by a studio band but by the Blüthner Orchestra, a quality ensemble based in Berlin and consisting largely of talented young players, which functioned from 1908 to 1925 and then formed the nucleus of the later Berlin Symphony Orchestra. The Wagner set was conducted by Edmund von Strauss, the manager of the orchestra (a Moravian by birth, unconnected with any of the other musical Strausses); other records mention a conductor named B. Weyensburg, but I have not been able to trace anything about him.

Oliver Mundy.

Thank you to Roger for the link to "Anker" labels, etc, and to Oliver for the most enlightening details about "Anker" records.
I hope that others reading this post will place on the forum any of their "Anker" record labels and snippets of information about the firm and any of the recording artists.that would enlighten us even more
Thank you all who have already responded.

I had an early test pressing of the great German tenor Leo Slezak of Celeste Aida (oh how many times did he record that!) and Plus Blanche from Huguenots on a white label with the Anker logo and text in black. It was a great sounding pressing on really good heavy material. There were many other classical vocals on that label.

Steven

I think of Leo Slezak every time I see his son Walter in a Hollywood movie. In addition to acting, Walter was an opera buff, and a regular on the old Metropolitan Opera Quiz during the intermissions of the Saturday matinee radio broadcasts ("Brought to you by Texaco---the Star of the American Road!"). Ah, the memories....

The record is not Anker, but.....