ORFEON

The first Turkish record company was founded in late 1910 or early by the brothers Julius and Hermann Blumenthal. Born in the Levant to Russian parents, the Blumenthals had previously served as local agents for Odeon.

Shortly afterward, the brothers opened Turkey’s first record factory, in Feriköy. They wasted no time addressing the Sephardic market in the Ottoman Empire, releasing 45 songs by the prolific Haim Effendi from 1911 to 1913 on their Orfeon and Orfeos labels. In addition to Sephardic releases, the mainstay of the company was Turkish music. The firm contracted with many of the outstanding artists of the period, foremost among whom was Tanburî Cemil Bey, as well as Hafız Âşir, Hafız Osman, Arap Mehmet, Hanende İbrahim and Tamburacı Osman Pehlivan.

In 1925, the firm sold its factory to Columbia, and re-releases were subsequently issued on that label.

Source: sephardicmusic.org