Hello everyone, The story of the street organs in the film "Operation
Amsterdam" is rather complicated:
1. The music in the film consists of several recordings of the organ
"the Cello", owned by Mr. Möhlman's nephew Gijs Perlee, as Robbie
already wrote;
2. The organ seen in the film is a Gasparini-built organ called
"de vijfbeelden" (the Five Figures), owned by Mr. Möhlmann. At the
time of shooting the film it was derelict in Mr. Möhlmann's store.
For the movie they built a mockup Bourdon celeste register, but inside
the organ was empty, hence the turning of the wheel after the organ
grinder was shot. Obviously the film makers still believed that organ
music was behaving like phono records...;
3. The "Pride of Amsterdam" LP record is not of one of these organs,
but recorded from another Carl Frei organ, named "de Duif" (the Dove).
I must say that it is easily confused with the recordings of the Cello
organ.
Regards from the Netherlands,
Hans van Oost, KDV
|