Recording of Verdi's Ernani in 1903
The recording of Verdi's Ernani in 1903 by the Italian Gramophone Company, a part of HMV, was the first complete opera recording. It was issued on 40 single-sided discs.[1] The first complete orchestral recording, Arthur Nikisch's recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, was made in 1913.[2]
- ^ Dearling & Dearling, Guinness Book of Music, p. 267: "1903 First complete opera recording: Verdi's Ernani by Italian HMV, issued on 40 single-sided discs.
- ^ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Graduate School of Library and Information Science, "Occasional papers, Num. 174 to 179", 1986: "The first complete opera, Verdi's Ernani, was recorded in 1903. It took up 40 single-sided discs and was issued on the H.M.V. label.22 The first complete orchestral recording, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, was not made until 1913."