The Steady Drip: The Empty Carnegie Hall Performance That Revolutionized Music (Connecting the Dots: Carnegie Hall, The New York Philharmonic, Harvard, CBS, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Russia, Russia, Russia & The Carnegie/Soros Network)

The Empty Carnegie Hall Performance That Revolutionized Music (Connecting the Dots: Carnegie Hall, The New York Philharmonic, Harvard, CBS, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Russia, Russia, Russia & The Carnegie/Soros Network)

In ‘This Week in History,’ CBS hired a young Hungarian engineer to lead its TV department and create a new way to play music.

The Epoch Times

Dustin Bass

6/13/2026|Updated: 6/16/2026

To an empty Carnegie Hall, the New York Philharmonic performed Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor which was later released as an LP recording under Columbia Records. Internet Archive. Public Domain

https://www.theepochtimes.com/bright/the-empty-carnegie-hall-performance-that-revolutionized-music-6045757

The members of the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York (now known as the New York Philharmonic) assembled at Carnegie Hall on May 16, 1945—nine days after Germany had surrendered to the Allies—to perform Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor. Joining them was conductor Bruno Walter and violin soloist Nathan Milstein—two virtuoso products of a tumultuous early 20th century Europe.

Walter, who later in life changed his name from Bruno Schlesinger, was born in 1876 to a middle-class Jewish family in Berlin. At the age of 8, he entered the Stern Conservatory to study music, and, by 1894, he had made his conducting debut in Cologne.

Mentored by one of history’s great composers, Gustav Mahler, Walter’s musical career soared over the next several decades, which included conducting the world-premiere of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony in Vienna. When the Nazis came to power in 1933 and restricted him from conducting symphonies, he moved to Austria where he soon became the artistic director at the Vienna Opera House. When Germany annexed Austria, Walter fled to America, arriving in 1939.

Bruno Walter, German-born conductor, who came to America in 1939. Public Domain

Milstein was born in Odessa, Ukraine, in 1903 and was trained by two of Eastern Europe’s great pedagogues: Pyotr Stolyarsky, of Odessa, and Leopold Auer, of St. Petersburg, Russia. Early into the Russian Revolution, his teacher, Auer, left the St. Petersburg Conservatory where he had worked for 49 years. The Revolution had left Milstein without his professor and in poverty. His talent and his associations with composers and fellow musicians kept his career moving forward. In 1928, Milstein decided to follow the path Auer paved 10 years prior, and moved to America.

Auer’s arrival in New York in February 1918 was quickly followed by his American debut at Carnegie Hall. Now, nearly three decades removed, Auer’s pupil, Nathan Milstein, stood on the same stage, preparing to perform the solo that had actually launched Auer’s career more than 90 years before. Although this was not Milstein’s American debut, it would become a debut in a different and more lasting sense.

Carnegie Hall’s stage was full. Its house, however, was empty.

Goldmark in America

Peter C. Goldmark had a device prepared to capture the performance. He was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1906, but he and his family escaped the communist takeover in 1919 by moving to Austria. There, he studied physics at the University of Vienna, and soon found his calling in the new technology of television.

He moved to Cambridge, England, where he worked for a radio and television equipment company from 1931 to 1933. By 1936, the young Hungarian had moved to America and was working for Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) as its television department’s chief engineer. The department was small—two technicians and a single room. There was plenty of room for growth.

He and his growing department helped improve CBS’s black-and-white television system. In March of 1940, he saw the Technicolor presentation of “Gone With the Wind,” and set to work on developing a color system for CBS. The engineers at Radio Corporation of America (RCA) were actually ahead of Goldmark and his department. They had conducted a presentation of color television to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in February.

The presentation didn’t go well, thus opening the door for Goldmark to make his mark on the medium. And indeed he did by deciding to make a momentous occasion all the more memorable by conducting the presentation at the top of the Chrysler Building in late August. This was followed by a successful presentation to the FCC.

Three-strip Technicolor from the 1930s. "Gone With the Wind" was filmed entirely in three-strip Technicolor. Marcin Wichary/CC BY 2.0

Goldmark’s New Endeavor

The troubles in Europe, however, forced him away from his television work, and in 1942, he and several CBS associates joined Harvard’s Radio Research Laboratory (RRL). Luckily, CBS and RRL came to an agreement, turning Goldmark’s CBS laboratory into a lab for RRL while keeping Goldmark and the others as paid CBS employees. Goldmark advocated for a laboratory in England, and by the fall of 1943, the American British Laboratory was established, where he worked as technical supervisor and then acting director.

His time in England didn’t last long; he was back in New York by December to become CBS’s Engineering and Research Department director. When the war ended, he returned to his work on a color television system. But there was another technical problem that caught his eye, or more accurately, his ear.

One evening during the fall of 1945, Goldmark was at a dinner. The host wished to play for him a recording of Johannes Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto. Goldmark was an avid musician, having excelled at the cello in Hungary and Austria. The listening session of Brahms’s famous work was frustrating. The concerto is approximately 50 minutes, but it took much longer to get through it, because the recording was on six different records, requiring about 12 stops to flip or replace the record. These records, known as 78s for their number of revolutions per minute (rpm), were capable of only three-to-five minute recordings, depending on whether they were 12 inches or 10 inches in size.

Goldmark set his sight on creating a record capable of much longer recordings. RCA had actually attempted this innovation nearly 15 years prior by making a 33 1/3 rpm record. On Sept. 17, 1931, at the Savoy Plaza Hotel in New York City, RCA conducted its presentation, but there were two glaring issues. Despite its recording length, its sound quality had degraded. Secondly, because the country was in the midst of the Great Depression, the timing was poor. CBS had also produced a long-play (LP) album, though primarily for cinema purposes. Neither efforts were commercially viable.

In 1938, the Depression created an opportunity for CBS to acquire the American Record Company (ARC), which included the Columbia Phonograph Company, Inc., an album company which dated its origins to the late 19th century. CBS renamed ARC as the Columbia Recording Company (CRC), which began researching how to create a commercially viable LP in 1939. The war in Europe, however, soon mitigated these efforts.

Making the LP

When the war ended, the timing was right for Goldmark. Now, he just needed to ensure sound quality. Over the course of the next three years, he and his team of CBS engineers, collaborating with the CRC engineers (renamed Columbia Records, Inc. (CRI) in 1947), developed a new LP. The breakthrough came by way of Goldmark’s innovation he called microgrooves. These infinitesimal grooves enabled the vinyl to play at 33 1/3 rpm with a much improved sound quality.

Goldmark, CBS, and CRI decided to put the new technology to the test. For its first LP, they would use New York Philharmonic’s empty Carnegie Hall performance, which captured the brilliance of Walter’s baton and the beauty of Milstein’s violin. The CBS and CRI executives called for a press conference to conduct a demonstration of its new record. It was during this week in history, on June 18, 1948, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City that a group of news reporters gathered to witness the first public demonstration of Columbia’s LP.

The demonstration began with a visual. Two 4-foot stacks of 78s were placed next to a 15-inch stack of Columbia’s new LPs. CRI’s new product held the same music as the 78s. CRI chairman, Edward Wallstein, stepped forward to detail the process of creating what he called a record of “full range, undistorted quality and a hitherto unachieved fidelity.” Then, the music, in its entirety, played on one album (two sides), and the world of music was forever changed.

(L–R) Three vinyl records of different formats, from a 12-inch LP, a 10-inch LP, a 7-inch single. Banfield/CC BY-SA 3.0

The LP Dominance

Not only did the new LP play longer, allowing for practically all classical numbers to be played on one side, but the sound quality was greatly improved. Additionally, there was no need for new equipment. Part of the presentation was conducted by James H. Carmine, executive vice president of the Philco Corporation, which produced one of the era’s most popular phonographs. Carmine stated that the Philco phonographs would play both the new LPs and the old 78s.

Three days after the demonstration, the first LP was put on the market: Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor as performed by Nathan Milstein and the New York Philharmonic—a testament to Euro-American musical genius and technological innovation.

The LP dominated the music industry for decades until the advent of the cassette tape, and then especially the compact disc. By the late 1980s, the death knell of the LP seemed to have been rung, but over the course of the past decade, the LP has witnessed a resurgence among consumers. It recently resumed its place as the primary physical format for listening to music, and last year surpassed $1 billion in sales.

Customers shop for special edition vinyl records at Dusty Groove music store during the Record Store Day in Chicago on April 13, 2019. Kamil Krzaczynksi/Getty Images.

Connecting the Dots:

Andrew Carnegie was the founder of Carnegie Hall and the founder of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Susan W. Rose is a trustee at Carnegie Hall, a director at the New York Philharmonic and was a director at the Brain Trauma Foundation.

George Soros is a director at the Brain Trauma Foundation, Daisy M. Soros is his sister-in-law and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Daisy M. Soros is George Soros’s sister-in-law and the secretary for the New York Philharmonic.

William M. Lewis Jr. is a director at the New York Philharmonic and was a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), the founder of Carnegie Hall and the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and a supporter for the American Society for Muslim Advancement.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a friend of Michael Douglas and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and the International Rescue Committee.

Evan G. Greenberg is an overseer at the International Rescue Committee and was a director at the New York Philharmonic.

Mary M. Boies is a director at the International Rescue Committee and was the VP for CBS.

International Rescue Committee is a partner with the ONE Campaign.

Howard G. Buffett is a director at the ONE Campaign and Warren E. Buffett’s son.

Susan A. Buffett is a director at the ONE Campaign and Warren E. Buffett’s daughter.

Warren E. Buffett is Howard G. Buffett & Susan A. Buffett’s father and an adviser at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).

Michael Douglas is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank) and a friend of George Soros.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).

Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), the Center for American Progress and a supporter for the American Society for Muslim Advancement.

Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the founder of Carnegie Hall and the founder of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and the Center for American Progress.

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a supporter for the Center for American Progress, is a friend of Michael Douglas and the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and the Center for American Progress.

Morton H. Halperin is a senior adviser for the Open Society Foundations, Newsmax’s Mark Halperin’s father, a director at the ONE Campaign, served with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a director at the Debt AIDS Trade Africa.

Mark Halperin is Morton H. Halperin’s son, a host and commentator for Newsmax TV, In 2010, Halperin joined MSNBC, becoming the senior political analyst and a contributor and the founding editor for Bloomberg Politics.

Bloomberg Politics is a division of Bloomberg LP.

Harold E. Ford Jr. was an overseer at the International Rescue Committee and is a political commentator at MSNBC.

Evan G. Greenberg is an overseer at the International Rescue Committee and was a director at the New York Philharmonic.

Mary M. Boies is a director at the International Rescue Committee and was the VP for CBS.

International Rescue Committee is a partner with the ONE Campaign.

Michael R. Bloomberg is the founder of Bloomberg LP, an advocate for the ONE Campaign and a director at the Bloomberg Family Foundation.

Bloomberg Family Foundation was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank) and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and a supporter for the American Society for Muslim Advancement.

Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the founder of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and the founder of Carnegie Hall.

Mercedes T. Bass is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a trustee at Carnegie Hall.

Michael K. Powell is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), Colin L. Powell’s son and was the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a professor at Harvard University.

Gerald M. Levin was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a director emeritus at the New York Philharmonic.

Elinor Bunin Munroe was a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a senior designer for CBS.

James S. Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago and Lester Crown’s son.

Lester Crown was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank),

James S. Crown’s father and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Mark D. Schneider is a partner at Sidley Austin LLP and was an associate general counsel for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP and the president for the Barack Obama administration.

Newton N. Minow was senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a director at CBS, the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and an honorary trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Ted Lieu was honored with the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Great Immigrants Award, has represented California's 36th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2023 and is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Astrid S. Tuminez was a program officer at the Carnegie Corporation of New York and is the 7th President of the Utah Valley University (Charlie Kirk Shooting).

Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the founder of Carnegie Hall and the founder of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and a supporter for the American Society for Muslim Advancement.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and the International Rescue Committee.

Evan G. Greenberg is an overseer at the International Rescue Committee and was a director at the New York Philharmonic.

Mary M. Boies is a director at the International Rescue Committee and was the VP for CBS.

International Rescue Committee is a partner with the ONE Campaign.

Michelle Obama was an advocate for the ONE Campaign and a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

Lawrence H. Summers is a director at the ONE Campaign and was a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Sheryl K. Sandberg is a director at the ONE Campaign and was a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a director at the ONE Campaign and was a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Helene D. Gayle is a director at the ONE Campaign and a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank)

Lawrence H. Summers is a director at the ONE Campaign, was a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and a professor; former president for Harvard University.

C. Douglas Dillon was the chairman for the Brookings Institution (think tank) and an overseer at Harvard University.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is a professor at Harvard University and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Paul E. Peterson is a professor at Harvard University and was a director of governmental studies at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Lawrence H. Summers was a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and is a professor; former president of Harvard University.

Ann M. Fudge was an overseer at Harvard University and is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

John C. Whitehead was the chairman for Harvard University and is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Harold H. Koh was an overseer for Harvard University, the State Department legal adviser for the Barack Obama administration and a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Herbert M. Kaplan is a board of fellow’s member for Harvard Medical School and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Cass R. Sunstein is a professor at Harvard Medical School and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Lynn Bendheim Thoman is a board of fellow’s member for Harvard Medical School and a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Howard E. Cox Jr. is a board of fellow’s member for Harvard Medical School and a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Kenneth M. Duberstein is a senior advisory committee member for the Harvard University Institute of Politics and a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Harold H. Koh was an overseer at Harvard University, a developments editor for the Harvard Law Review, the State Department legal adviser for the Barack Obama administration and a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank) and a supporter for the American Society for Muslim Advancement.

Cameron F. Kerry is a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), John F. Kerry’s brother and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, the president for the Barack Obama administration and the president of the Harvard Law Review.

Danielle C. Gray was an editor for the Harvard Law Review and an assistant to the president for the Barack Obama Administration.

Ronald A. Klain was an editor for the Harvard Law Review and a coordinator of government Ebola efforts for the Barack Obama Administration.

Blake Roberts was an editor for the Harvard Law Review and is the deputy associate counsel for the Barack Obama Administration.

Michael B.G. Froman was an editor for the Harvard Law Review, an assistant to the president for the Barack Obama Administration and is Barack Obama’s law school friend.

Crystal Nix Hines was Barack Obama’s law school friend and a supervising editor for the Harvard Law Review.

Nancy L. McCullough is Barack Obama’s law school friend and was an editor for the Harvard Law Review.

Jonathan T. Molot is Barack Obama’s law school friend and was an editor for the Harvard Law Review.

Thomas J. Perrelli is Barack Obama’s law school friend and was a managing editor for the Harvard Law Review.

Michael J. Gottleib was an editor for the Harvard Law Review and is an associate counsel for the Barack Obama Administration.

Harold H. Koh was a developments editor for the Harvard Law Review, a State Department legal adviser for the Barack Obama Administration and a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank) and a supporter for the American Society for Muslim Advancement.

Michael H. Jordan is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and the chairman & CEO for CBS.

Richard L. Kauffman was a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a director at the New York Philharmonic.

Cameron F. Kerry is a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), John F. Kerry’s brother and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a supporter for the American Society for Muslim Advancement.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Lester Crown was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

James S. Crown is the vice chairman for the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Michael K. Powell is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), Colin L. Powell’s son and was the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a professor at Harvard University.

Gerald M. Levin was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a director emeritus at the New York Philharmonic.

Elinor Bunin Munroe was a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a senior designer for CBS.

Mercedes T. Bass is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a trustee at Carnegie Hall.

Andrew Carnegie was the founder of Carnegie Hall, the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the founder of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank) and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations and a board member of the International Crisis Group.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Gregory B. Craig is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and was the White House counsel for the Barack Obama administration.

James F. Collins is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and was a U.S. ambassador for Russia.

Yegor Gaidar a board member of the International Crisis Group and was the prime minister for Russia.

Thomas R. Pickering is a co-chair for the International Crisis Group and was a U.S. ambassador for Russia.

Jamie S. Gorelick was a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a deputy attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice, is Ivanka Trump & Jared Kushner’s attorney and a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Robert S. Mueller III was a director at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, is investigating interference with Russia in the 2016 U.S. election, special counsel investigating Russian ties in the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign, a special counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, James Quarles III is assisting him in the Russia probe, Jeannie Rhee assisted him in the Russia collusion probe and Aaron Zebley assisted him in the Russia probe.

James Quarles III assisted Robert S. Mueller III in the Russia probe and was a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

Jeannie Rhee assisted Robert S. Mueller III in the Russia collusion probe, was a deputy assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice and a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

Aaron Zebley assisted Robert S. Mueller III in the Russia probe and was a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

Cameron F. Kerry was an associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, is John F. Kerry’s brother, a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.