Great Partnerships
With Richard Baker. The Amadeus
Quartet gave their first concert as an ensemble at the Dartington Summer School in Devon in 1947. Three of them - Norbert Brainin ,
Peter Schidlof and Sigmund Nissel - were Jewish refugees from Austria who met at an internment camp during the Second World War. They were all violinists, so Peter Schidlof gallantly agreed to switch to the viola so they could form a quartet with cellist
Martin Lovett. The Amadeus Quartet made their London debut in 1948 and went on to perform together for nearly 40 years. Today's programme features just a few of their many recordings, including movements from Haydn's Emperor Quartet, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante,
Britten's String Quartet No 3 and Schubert's Death and the Maiden
Quartet.