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The death of Siegmund Nissel (4th R) brings with it the end of the trio the "Isle on Man boys" who later created what was to become the celebrated Amadeus Quartet with an English cellist.
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LONDON (EJP)--- Siegmund Nissel, the second violinist of the Amadeus Quartet, died last week at his London home after a long illness. He was 86.
His death brings with it the end of the trio the "Isle on Man boys" who latercreated what was to become the celebrated Amadeus Quartet with an English cellist.
Siegmund Nissel was born in Munich on Jan. 3, 1922, to a Viennese Jewish family.
He began playing the violin at 6.
In 1938, after the Nazis annexed Austria, the boy, then 16, was able to take one of the last trains out of Austria to take refuge in England.
However, as an "enemy alien" he was sent to the internment camp in the Isle of Man by the British authorities where he and Peter Schidlof entertained other inmates many of whom had enjoyed a similar cultivated, often musical background in their previous homelands in Germany and Austria.
They were later joined by Norbert Brainin.
After the war they formed a partnership with Martin Lovett and gave a first concert in London's Wigmore Hall, a landmark of excellence then and now, and, in 1948 the world-famous Amadeus Quartet was born.
Their art was of the highest level of chamber music in living memory bringing a nostalgia for pre-war European culture which has never been surpassed.
After the war they formed a partnership with Martin Lovett and gave a first concert in London's Wigmore Hall,a landmark of excellence then and now, and, in 1948 the world-famous Amadeus Quartet was born.
Their art was of the highest level of chamber music in living memory bringing a nostalgia for pre-war European culture which has never been surpassed.
