Amadeus String Quartet

Speaker 10:00

Hello, I'm Kirsty Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs Archive.

Speaker 10:05

For rights reasons we've had to shorten the music. The programme was originally broadcast in 1978 and the presenter was Roy Plumley.

Presenter0:32

For the first time in the history of Desert Islandists we have four castaways on the island at the same time, the members of the Amadeus Quartet. They are Norbert Breinin, Sigmund Nissel, Peter Shiedloff, and Martin Lovett.

Presenter0:46

At any rate, gentlemen, you're not going to be faced with the extremes of loneliness. Now, we've agreed that you're going to choose two records each.

Presenter0:54

We'll start with Norbert Brynan as the leader of the quartet.

Presenter0:59

How long is it now you've you've been together? Is it twenty-five, thirty years or something? Thirty years, yes. Thirty years this year? Yes. What uh was the date of your first concert?

Amadeus String Quartet1:08

The date of our first concert was tenth of january, nineteen forty eight, at the Wigmore Hall.

Presenter1:13

So you've been together thirty years and and one month.

Amadeus String Quartet1:16

Yeah, actually we've been together for thirty one years because for a whole year previously we worked very, very hard indeed.

Presenter1:24

Together. All that time and never a cross word.

Amadeus String Quartet1:27

Kick.

Amadeus String Quartet1:29

Uh

Amadeus String Quartet1:32

Yes, Roger.

Presenter1:32

Bye.

Amadeus String Quartet1:32

A musical family? No, I'm afraid not. No, I'm the only musician in a family far and wide, with the exception of of my cousin, who did play the violin, who gave me my first lesson, but he was not a musician by profession. And he only played he played in a c cafe house in Vienna to supplement his income so as to enable him to study.

Presenter1:59

How old were you when you had that first lesson? Seven. And you left Vienna, of course, at the time of the Anchlus in nineteen thirty eight. You hadn't yet started your career, or had you just started? No, I was still a student.

Presenter2:13

Why did you decide to come to Britain instead of going to to France or Italy or wherever?

Amadeus String Quartet2:17

Well because I had family connections with England.

Amadeus String Quartet2:21

Two of my uncles were living in England. They were and still are in the furrier business and as as they were in Vienna.

Presenter2:29

And of course in nineteen thirty nine when Britain went to war,

Presenter2:34

You were a newcomer from what had become an enemy country. I suppose you were interned, were you?

Amadeus String Quartet2:38

Yes, I was.

Presenter2:39

Yeah.

Amadeus String Quartet2:40

interned first of all at a place in Shropshire which was called Prees Heath. I'm not quite sure whether there is actually a place of that name now, I'm not sure. But it was somewhere near Wellington. Yes. And it was a uh a camp with tents. Pretty primitive.

Presenter3:01

Yes.

Amadeus String Quartet3:02

And this is where I met Peter.

Presenter3:03

Was it?

Presenter3:04

Yes. And where did you move on to after that?

Amadeus String Quartet3:06

After that I I moved on to the Isle of Man to a

Amadeus String Quartet3:10

Place called Onken.

Amadeus String Quartet3:12

Yeah.

Presenter3:12

Did they Coulomb?

Amadeus String Quartet3:13

Not very long. All in all, I was interned for two months.

Presenter3:18

Well now your first record Norbert, what are you going to choose?

Amadeus String Quartet3:21

My first record, I have chosen Beethoven's seventh symphony in A major.

Amadeus String Quartet3:27

for the reason that it was my first serious encounter with a Beethoven symphony at the age of approximately seventeen or eighteen.

Amadeus String Quartet3:41

I think it was a birthday gift of the symphony conducted by Arturo Toscanini.

Amadeus String Quartet3:48

And I still remember every note and every inflection and every turn, every accent of this record.

Presenter4:54

The opening of the last movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony

Presenter4:58

Toscanini conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and that was Norbert Brinin's choice. Now coming down the line, second violin played by Siegmund Nissel. Now you're from Vienna too, Sigmi. That's right, yes. Musical family? Well, only sort of in the sense that my father used as a student uh go around and earn or supplement his living by singing at the Høling.

Presenter5:19

And uh at what age did you start to learn? Uh six and a half. Six and a half. Oh, you you're just ahead of Norbert.

Presenter5:27

Had you met Norbert in Vienna? No. How far had your career got? Were you still a student when you left Vienna? Oh, very much so, yes. Also the same kind of situation that I was interned here and I met Peter in the internet.

Speaker 15:34

The Marceau.

Presenter5:41

Everybody seemed to have met Peter on the way.

Presenter5:44

How much music was there in the Isle of Man, in the camp? Oh, there was a great deal of music. In fact, one of the uh first things that were instituted was a house reserved for the use of musicians. Oh, splendid. So that we have a rehearsal room and and we gave uh a few concerts there and uh so there was it's a splendid time.

Speaker 15:54

So that

Presenter6:01

There was even, I believe, a a small university of the Oh, uh very much so. I th I went to lectures and uh tried to make up something that I'd missed in in the years gone by. So it's fairly civilized.

Speaker 16:04

Well

Presenter6:13

It was very civilized indeed. How long were you there?

Presenter6:16

I was there for practically a year.

Presenter6:18

Now what's your first record? What have you chosen? Oh, I've chosen Mozart and I'd like to hear uh Teresa Paganza in Boequesa Pete.

Speaker 26:46

And birth and wall for birth or so.

Speaker 27:06

Oh I want it.

Speaker 27:10

General Perce.

Presenter7:26

Voy que zepetti from the Marriage of Figaro sung by Teresa Vaganza.

Presenter7:31

And that was the choice of sequent nissel. Now, the third member of the quartet, Peter Shiedloff, another Viennese? Yes.

Presenter7:39

Now don't tell me that you started to learn music at the age of six and a quarter. No, uh at the age of seven, myself. Yes. And you met Norbert in that first rough internment camp near Wednesday. It wasn't that rough. Wasn't that rough. In fact, this is the first time I played with Norbert. We played uh duets.

Speaker 17:43

No, uh at the age of seven, myself.

Speaker 17:51

The ways.

Speaker 17:53

Yeah, info.

Presenter7:58

We even made an arrangement of the of the Mendelssohn violin concerto that we played together in the open air.

Speaker 18:03

Yeah.

Presenter8:04

Uhhuh. And how long after that were you in the Isle of Man?

Presenter8:08

Did you have a long spell to the mm-hmm?

Speaker 18:09

Uh

Presenter8:10

Very long spell is for about a year, and I think they just forgot about me. But I was there. Now, when you were released, um there was the compulsory war work order. You all had to do something.

Speaker 28:22

Yes.

Presenter8:22

What the government considered useful apart from making music. What did you do? I I did dentistry. Dentistry? Mechanical dentistry. Which I was quite handy at doing. And what about you, Ziggy? What did you do? I actually worked in the metal smelting works and got to know all about the

Presenter8:41

um metals and the metal trade.

Presenter8:44

Were you good at it?

Presenter8:45

I think I could have made a living at that.

Amadeus String Quartet8:46

Uh

Presenter8:47

Yeah.

Amadeus String Quartet8:47

Yeah.

Presenter8:47

It's always handy, isn't it, if you want to diversify. What about you, Nova?

Amadeus String Quartet8:52

I was an unskilled machine tool fit and I remained unskilled to the very end. It's a miracle that they didn't lose the wall, the counter Yeah.

Presenter9:10

Now you were all of course still studying. You were all pupils, I believe, of Dr. Max Rostow, is that right? Yes, we were. Well, except Martin, of course. Yes, yes. And I believe to give a little variety, your two friends were fiddlers. I believe you volunteered to take up the viola. Right. And I have never regretted it. Let's have your first record. What's that to be, Peter? Well, I've chosen um the Beecham recording of the magic flute and the area Achig Fühls with Tienel Lemnitz.

Presenter9:41

who I think is such a magnificent, or was such a magnificent artist. It made a very great impression on me when I first heard this recording when I was at school here in the depths of Devonshire. When I heard uh this I thought this is the greatest music I've ever heard.

Speaker 210:21

All's for you.

Presenter10:58

Tiana Lemnitz singing Achic Fuels from The Magic Flute, Sir Thomas Beacham's recording.

Presenter11:05

So you were two violins and a viola.

Presenter11:09

Whose idea was it to form a quartet?

Presenter11:12

Do you remember, Ziggy? Do you remember was there any package? We were sort of part of a student group and we were invited to play in

Speaker 111:13

I think my one

Presenter11:20

amateurs houses and we sort of began to gravitate towards one another because we liked each other's playing. So you needed a cello really? Who decided where to look and where did you come across Martin Lovett? Peter, do you remember? Yes, um his wife studied with the same uh teacher with Max Rosterl with us and through uh Susie, his wife, we got to know Martin.

Presenter11:46

Well now Martin, you were born in England, so for thirty years you've put up with Viennese jokes from these three. That's right. What part of England do you come from? I was born in London. And don't tell me you began to learn the cello at the age of seven. No, at eleven. Well you were a late developer. Actually my father's a cellist and um at about the age of eleven I decided I wanted to play it. He wasn't keen at all but um reluctantly he he agreed to teach me and uh

Amadeus String Quartet12:02

Late developer

Speaker 112:09

Yeah.

Presenter12:14

That's how it started. And these three more or less came to you with a with a proposition, and as Norbert said, you had a lot of rehearsal, a whole year.

Presenter12:23

Well, we had a few concerts during that year. We weren't called the Amadots Quartet. We had various other names.

Presenter12:29

But, um, we rehearsed a great deal.

Presenter12:32

Who christened it? Who decided to call the Quartet the Amadeus? Named, I presume, after after that.

Amadeus String Quartet12:37

I'll do my

Presenter12:38

Well

Amadeus String Quartet12:39

Uh

Presenter12:39

Yeah.

Amadeus String Quartet12:39

Um

Presenter12:39

We had a lot of discussion about what what to call it and we wanted a nice neutral name and uh I think it was Siggy's idea and and we we all uh thought it was a very good name. It is it's a very good name.

Amadeus String Quartet12:50

It does it if

Speaker 112:51

Uh

Presenter12:52

Well, Martin, your first record, what's that? Well, I think it must be obvious that uh every cellist admires Casals uh more than any other.

Presenter13:00

Chalist and and uh

Presenter13:02

Just to hear this wonderfully serene, slow movement from the Schumann concerto.

Presenter13:58

Casals in the slow movement of the Schumann cello concerto.

Presenter14:04

Now Martin referred to some.

Presenter14:07

Early public performances by the quartet before it was called the Amadeus. Norbert, do you remember any one in particular of those early concerts? Certainly.

Amadeus String Quartet14:15

I particularly remember

Amadeus String Quartet14:18

The concert at Dartington Hall round about June.

Amadeus String Quartet14:22

Nineteen forty seven.

Amadeus String Quartet14:25

We were invited to give this concert when it became known that we had actually formed a string quartet.

Presenter14:33

At that time Imogen Holst was looking after the music side of Dartington, wasn't she?

Amadeus String Quartet14:36

Yeah.

Amadeus String Quartet14:37

Yes, she was.

Presenter14:38

I believe she was very helpful to you all as you as you started your venture.

Amadeus String Quartet14:40

Yes, she was extremely helpful. We we established sort of more personal contact in the days previous to june forty seven when I came to make music at Dartington Hall.

Amadeus String Quartet14:56

And later on actually imagine

Amadeus String Quartet14:59

gave us a hundred pounds toward putting on our first Wigmohole concert.

Amadeus String Quartet15:05

for which we were very grateful indeed. As it turned out, the place was sold out.

Presenter15:12

What are your memories of that night, that sensational night in January 1948, Martin? Well, it was nobody said it was sold out and it was really a a very uh thrilling uh experience altogether. Actually, I think we made some uh

Speaker 115:25

I should have

Presenter15:27

History there because I don't know how it got around that the quarter had been formed, but you know normally these debut recitals are half or quarter full. But in this case, it was not only full, but people were turned away and there was a queue outside. And after that, every time we played at the William War Hall, the manager used to say, we're getting the fire brigade out, you know. So then came of course engagements abroad and recording sessions. Now in becoming involved in this very successful venture you all realized that you were giving up potential careers as soloists. Siggy, did that worry you? Not a bit. No, the steam music that I'd always wanted to play. Mm-hmm. Does that go for the rest of you? Well certainly as far as I'm concerned. We play our little solos when we play quartets. Oh of course! Right, now we've got to record number five which means we're back with you Norbert for your second choice.

Speaker 116:14

The majority

Speaker 216:17

Uh Uh

Amadeus String Quartet16:17

Uh

Speaker 216:17

Uh

Amadeus String Quartet16:17

Yeah.

Amadeus String Quartet16:24

My second choice is um Schubert's quintet for strings in C major, which is.

Amadeus String Quartet16:33

probably the last major work that he wrote.

Amadeus String Quartet16:37

And probably the greatest piece of chamber music ever written.

Amadeus String Quartet16:41

And

Amadeus String Quartet16:42

Which artist would you like to play it?

Amadeus String Quartet16:45

The Amadales Quartet with William Please Second Cello.

Presenter17:51

The opening of the slow movement of the Schubert string quintet in C major by the augmented Amadeus string quartet.

Presenter17:59

augmented by William Pleith as second cello. You do indeed quite often augment and become a quintet. I've heard Cesla Ronovitz also playing the viola.

Presenter18:10

Who else, Peter? Have you have a guest pianist sometimes?

Presenter18:14

Yes, when we play piano literature we've had several pianists who we love playing with, if I may, who will put their name um is Clifford Carlson.

Amadeus String Quartet18:20

We put it.

Speaker 218:21

Uh

Amadeus String Quartet18:21

Good night.

Presenter18:24

Yes, and uh also we have made records with Emil Gills, the Russian pianist, the string quintets we almost always play with with Cecil Aronowitz, who's who's been with us uh playing these quintets ever since we started in nineteen forty eight.

Presenter18:39

Now your repertoire is is a big one. All the Viennese classics of course, plus Brahms and Vorschak and Mendelssohn, and some moderns of course, Iggy? Yes, well the thing that immediately comes to my mind is the uh first performance that we gave in December nineteen seventy six of Benjamin Britton's last quartet, which his third quartet, which he wrote for us. And uh this is a very, very moving experience to play at work, A, because the music is so wonderful, and and B, because

Presenter19:12

We were lucky enough to be able to study it with him.

Presenter19:17

But Ben was somehow convinced that he would never hear the first performance. And indeed he died a week before the first performance. But we did study with him and uh so it is uh a great experience for us to play this work. I'm sure. Sigi, your second record.

Presenter19:34

For my second record I'd like to choose the artist, Janet Baker.

Presenter19:39

because she's given me and my wife so many hours of greatest pleasure.

Presenter19:44

That out

Presenter19:45

I'd like to be reminded of those moments. Unfortunately, the works.

Presenter19:49

in which I heard her not so terribly long ago. I'm not recorded.

Presenter19:54

Uh so it is with great pleasure that I just simply chose Earl Schubert's song which recorded the Nur Verdeseinzuken.

Speaker 220:04

Feel these days of twenty

Speaker 220:09

Christ was a story.

Speaker 220:17

When this end of grace Lais is not

Speaker 220:36

Oh great lands for love and

Speaker 220:44

Singh's field moment, noise.

Presenter21:02

Janet Baker singing the Schubert song No Ver die Seinzoch Kent accompanied by Gerald Moore.

Presenter21:09

Now, among the trappings of success, you've all acquired really beautiful instruments. That's so, isn't it, Pete?

Presenter21:15

Yes, we have.

Presenter21:17

Norbert plays on a Guaneri del Jeso and Siggy and I have uh stradivarius instruments and Martin has a also a strad. We're very lucky from that point of view. We feel they they they blend in well and I think the choice we we always con consulted each other, you know, the sort of sound that we were after for the quartet. It must be a great responsibility to take such treasures round the world.

Amadeus String Quartet21:43

It certainly is. In fact, uh whenever we take to the air the insurance company uh get the jitters.

Presenter21:51

Not only the four members, but also their belongings.

Presenter21:57

Has anybody kept any statistics? Martin, how many countries do you estimate the Quartet's played in? Well, I think you'd have to ask the question the other way around. Which countries haven't we played in? All right, which countries haven't we played in?

Amadeus String Quartet22:06

I can think

Amadeus String Quartet22:08

Uh Red China. We haven't played him.

Presenter22:12

So I hope somebody's listening as a challenge. And uh oh, I I don't know. A few other companies, Indonesia and such places we haven't been to, but uh

Amadeus String Quartet22:14

In Red China, we picked that up as a challenge.

Presenter22:23

Now, whose turn is it? I think it's uh yours, Peter. Yes. What are you choosing?

Presenter22:28

Well, I've chosen now some Viennese music by Johann Strauss out of the Fledermaus the Chardash, which on this recording, which was made in, I believe, in nineteen fifty.

Presenter22:41

is sung by Hildegudden.

Presenter22:44

Conducted by Clemens Kraus.

Speaker 222:46

Fire the ladies close, and there's no motherfuckers. Find the country's name, children's fine. Round the sleep tonight, it's my favourite night. Rise to our sleep, don't find his seed. Don't take tension, light to pressure, laughing, crying, nothing crying, the

Speaker 223:06

Uh

Speaker 223:19

Are you ready to go?

Presenter23:45

Some Hungarian music from Vienna, the Chardash from Die Fledemausen, sung by Hilde Guden.

Presenter23:52

A recording conducted by Clements Kraus. Now on this island, who does what? Is anybody good at building things? Ziggy, are you good at building things? Would you build a shelter? No, my wife tells me I'm totally, uh I'm practically in the house and I wish to remain so on the desert island. All right, who gets the job then? Who's in charge of construction? You, Peter? Maybe I would be. Yes, he's the handyman.

Amadeus String Quartet24:07

All right, and who gets the job then? Who's in charge of construction? You P

Speaker 224:10

I

Amadeus String Quartet24:10

Maybe I would be.

Speaker 224:11

Yeah.

Speaker 224:12

The hand

Amadeus String Quartet24:12

Uh

Speaker 224:13

Yeah.

Amadeus String Quartet24:13

My wife always says that I am I'm really very capable, but uh as she puts it, I plead genius. So don't have any to don't have to do anything.

Presenter24:24

So don't

Presenter24:29

No, but we must take care of your hands. Put that hammer down.

Amadeus String Quartet24:32

Yeah.

Presenter24:34

Is there a fisherman in the house? Oh, I've done a little bit more. You have mine. Yes, I understand.

Speaker 124:37

Uh

Speaker 224:37

You have mine.

Presenter24:39

Um moderately I would say, yes. Yes. Well, I've remember cooking a fantastic Bouilla Besse in uh in near Nice uh with the results of a day's fishing.

Speaker 224:46

Yeah.

Speaker 124:47

Yeah.

Presenter24:48

And who's the gardener? Who cultivates? Who grows the vegetables?

Presenter24:52

I think I would like to do that on a desert island. So do the gardening and then grow some vegetables. Would anybody try to escape? No, I don't think we could.

Amadeus String Quartet24:53

And so you shall, Ziggy, yes.

Speaker 124:55

Seven

Presenter25:02

If there was a ship, we could just about swim a very short distance, you know, ten or fifteen metres. You wouldn't contemplate a a rowing core, for example.

Speaker 225:06

Uh

Amadeus String Quartet25:06

Uh

Speaker 225:06

Note

Amadeus String Quartet25:07

Yeah.

Speaker 225:07

Be what

Amadeus String Quartet25:07

He calls it the age of brilliant.

Amadeus String Quartet25:10

We would have to go into training for that.

Presenter25:13

Yeah.

Amadeus String Quartet25:13

Uh

Presenter25:14

Your last record and uh Martin Lauppet, it's yours. Well, uh I'm only sorry that I can't play more of my favourite composer Bach and uh but here the beginning of the Resurrex it from the Mass in B minor conducted by Karl Richter.

Speaker 226:25

Take the

Presenter26:29

the beginning of Et Resurrexit from the Bach B minor Mass conducted by Richter. Now you can each choose of course one luxury to take on the island. Uh Martin Lubbet, would you like to choose one first?

Amadeus String Quartet26:42

Well, it's uh not

Presenter26:42

Not

Amadeus String Quartet26:43

Uh

Presenter26:43

Uh

Amadeus String Quartet26:43

A very modest one. I don't know if you'd allow me I I love

Presenter26:46

Love the cinema and I wonder if I could have

Amadeus String Quartet26:47

Have a projector.

Presenter26:49

Yeah.

Amadeus String Quartet26:49

and a screen and a large library of film.

Presenter26:55

That's all right. I'm not sure about a large library. You're allowed eight records between. What about eight films between? Well, better than nothing. Right. And Peter Shidlov, what are you going to do? Well, I'd love to to be able to take uh

Amadeus String Quartet26:58

You're not a

Speaker 127:01

Well

Presenter27:08

The viola. And the bow.

Presenter27:12

And Siggy, Sigmund as well.

Presenter27:21

If I'd be allowed that I'd love to have a little transistor set so that I can listen into the outside world. Oh yes, a transistor set for listening, but but not for sending.

Speaker 127:26

Oh yeah.

Presenter27:29

Not for sending, you know, just listening to keep in touch with what goes on, right? That's a football resulting. Also, also. Nobody brained it.

Amadeus String Quartet27:38

I I was going to say I would like a writing blog.

Amadeus String Quartet27:42

with a supply of pencils to write. But the does that come under the heading of luxury?

Presenter27:48

Oh, yes, it does. Yes, yes. But we can give you plenty of paper, plenty of pencils. What are you going to write?

Amadeus String Quartet27:49

But you

Amadeus String Quartet27:53

I'm not sure.

Presenter27:54

I believe

Amadeus String Quartet27:54

I want to uh I'm th th that that's the one thing I'm not sure about.

Presenter27:58

Now a small and select library, one book each in any language, but not the Bible and Shakespeare which are already on the island and we don't allow big encyclopedias. Martin? I think the Proust à la recherche du temp per dieu because I think that would uh keep me busy for the rest of my life. Yes, it certainly would, a good long sequence of volumes.

Presenter28:19

What about you, Peter? Well, I I think I'd like to be busy, maybe trying my hands um m in making uh an instrument, and I would take uh a book on instrument making. Then you can make one for the others, and then you can get the quartet going. Why not? Ziggy, what about you? I'm very much trying to learn Italian.

Presenter28:38

And I'd like to ask you, would I be allowed a book in Italian, but I would need a dictionary. An Italian dictionary. Because I really want to learn the language and have a book.

Speaker 128:45

Because I

Presenter28:50

Well, in that case, if you allow me that, I would go for Dante.

Amadeus String Quartet28:53

The divine comedy.

Presenter28:55

Dante, good. And uh Norbert.

Amadeus String Quartet28:59

Well if it has to be

Amadeus String Quartet29:01

Just one book.

Amadeus String Quartet29:04

I think I would like Tolstoy's War and Peace. Right.

Presenter29:09

And thank you, members of the Amadeus Quartet, Norbert Brinin, Martin Lubbert, Sigmund Nissel, and Peter Shiedlov, for letting us hear your choice of Desert Island discs. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Goodbye, everyone.

Speaker 229:19

Thank you. That's right. Thank you.

Speaker 129:31

You've been listening to a podcast from the Desert Islandists archive. For more podcasts, please visit bbc.co.uk/slash radio four.