Spent 2 years as a child in the Nazi concentration camp at Terezin, 35 miles outside Prague, with his mother.
In Terezin, Raphael turned the pages at every weekly concert his mother, Alice Hertz Sommer, a Czech concert pianist, was forced to perform, in addition to forced labor. He also performed the role of the sparrow in the camp production of Hans Krasa's story about tyranny, "Brundibar." Years later, he conducted many performances of the opera.
Raphael was one of only a handful of children to survive Terezin. Mother and son were held in a narrow room with 16 other inmates, but fortunately remained together. His father and grandmother were sent to Auschwitz, where his grandmother was murdered. His father ultimately was sent to Dachau and murdered there.
After the war, they reached Israel, where Alice became a teacher and Raphael a pupil at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem. His first instrument was the piano until, at the age of 11, he embarked on a happy and enduring relationship with the cello. Lessons with Paul Tortelier in Israel led to a scholarship for further study at the Paris Conservatory.
A succession of prizes and outstanding debut performances, followed by a season with Rudolf Serkin at the Marlboro festival in Vermont created his reputation. The Finnish cellist, Arto Noras, also a Tortelier pupil, emphasized that for Raphael, "the essential was the composer. He always tried to avoid any kind of artificial effects or instrumental mannerisms, which string players so often carry from one composition to another."
In 1967, a career as a highly respected teacher began when Raphael took over the cello department of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. England. In 1989, he became professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, as well as a judge of international competitions.
Raphael wrote that "one of the greatest pleasures of music is to make other people listen to it; to feel, for just a moment, a tiny part of an ideal world in which everything is good, beautiful, harmony, love". This feeling is what inspired him and his wife, the French cellist, Geneviève Teullières, to establish a music festival in Gex, where they had a home.
After taking part, with his mother, in a radio documentary about the music of Terezin, Sommer wrote and presented talk programs, including a profile of Tortelier and the series Manners.
Despite his terrible childhood experiences, his success was achieved by beautiful playing rather than by clever management. He cherished his private life and nurtured friendships as much as his career, read widely and enjoyed the theater.
Sommer's gifts as a recitalist found their most recent expression in the chamber ensemble Trio Salomon, which had just completed a hugely successful tour of Israel when he became unwell and was rushed to the hospital.
Sommer is survived by his mother, his wife, and two sons from an earlier marriage. Still active at 98, Raphael's mother Alice was recording an interview about the Terezin years for German television when her grandsons told her of Raphael's death.
Cause of death: aneurysm.
In Terezin, Raphael turned the pages at every weekly concert his mother, Alice Hertz Sommer, a Czech concert pianist, was forced to perform, in addition to forced labor. He also performed the role of the sparrow in the camp production of Hans Krasa's story about tyranny, "Brundibar." Years later, he conducted many performances of the opera.
Raphael was one of only a handful of children to survive Terezin. Mother and son were held in a narrow room with 16 other inmates, but fortunately remained together. His father and grandmother were sent to Auschwitz, where his grandmother was murdered. His father ultimately was sent to Dachau and murdered there.
After the war, they reached Israel, where Alice became a teacher and Raphael a pupil at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem. His first instrument was the piano until, at the age of 11, he embarked on a happy and enduring relationship with the cello. Lessons with Paul Tortelier in Israel led to a scholarship for further study at the Paris Conservatory.
A succession of prizes and outstanding debut performances, followed by a season with Rudolf Serkin at the Marlboro festival in Vermont created his reputation. The Finnish cellist, Arto Noras, also a Tortelier pupil, emphasized that for Raphael, "the essential was the composer. He always tried to avoid any kind of artificial effects or instrumental mannerisms, which string players so often carry from one composition to another."
In 1967, a career as a highly respected teacher began when Raphael took over the cello department of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. England. In 1989, he became professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, as well as a judge of international competitions.
Raphael wrote that "one of the greatest pleasures of music is to make other people listen to it; to feel, for just a moment, a tiny part of an ideal world in which everything is good, beautiful, harmony, love". This feeling is what inspired him and his wife, the French cellist, Geneviève Teullières, to establish a music festival in Gex, where they had a home.
After taking part, with his mother, in a radio documentary about the music of Terezin, Sommer wrote and presented talk programs, including a profile of Tortelier and the series Manners.
Despite his terrible childhood experiences, his success was achieved by beautiful playing rather than by clever management. He cherished his private life and nurtured friendships as much as his career, read widely and enjoyed the theater.
Sommer's gifts as a recitalist found their most recent expression in the chamber ensemble Trio Salomon, which had just completed a hugely successful tour of Israel when he became unwell and was rushed to the hospital.
Sommer is survived by his mother, his wife, and two sons from an earlier marriage. Still active at 98, Raphael's mother Alice was recording an interview about the Terezin years for German television when her grandsons told her of Raphael's death.
Cause of death: aneurysm.
Spent 2 years as a child in the Nazi concentration camp at Terezin, 35 miles outside Prague, with his mother.
In Terezin, Raphael turned the pages at every weekly concert his mother, Alice Hertz Sommer, a Czech concert pianist, was forced to perform, in addition to forced labor. He also performed the role of the sparrow in the camp production of Hans Krasa's story about tyranny, "Brundibar." Years later, he conducted many performances of the opera.
Raphael was one of only a handful of children to survive Terezin. Mother and son were held in a narrow room with 16 other inmates, but fortunately remained together. His father and grandmother were sent to Auschwitz, where his grandmother was murdered. His father ultimately was sent to Dachau and murdered there.
After the war, they reached Israel, where Alice became a teacher and Raphael a pupil at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem. His first instrument was the piano until, at the age of 11, he embarked on a happy and enduring relationship with the cello. Lessons with Paul Tortelier in Israel led to a scholarship for further study at the Paris Conservatory.
A succession of prizes and outstanding debut performances, followed by a season with Rudolf Serkin at the Marlboro festival in Vermont created his reputation. The Finnish cellist, Arto Noras, also a Tortelier pupil, emphasized that for Raphael, "the essential was the composer. He always tried to avoid any kind of artificial effects or instrumental mannerisms, which string players so often carry from one composition to another."
In 1967, a career as a highly respected teacher began when Raphael took over the cello department of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. England. In 1989, he became professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, as well as a judge of international competitions.
Raphael wrote that "one of the greatest pleasures of music is to make other people listen to it; to feel, for just a moment, a tiny part of an ideal world in which everything is good, beautiful, harmony, love". This feeling is what inspired him and his wife, the French cellist, Geneviève Teullières, to establish a music festival in Gex, where they had a home.
After taking part, with his mother, in a radio documentary about the music of Terezin, Sommer wrote and presented talk programs, including a profile of Tortelier and the series Manners.
Despite his terrible childhood experiences, his success was achieved by beautiful playing rather than by clever management. He cherished his private life and nurtured friendships as much as his career, read widely and enjoyed the theater.
Sommer's gifts as a recitalist found their most recent expression in the chamber ensemble Trio Salomon, which had just completed a hugely successful tour of Israel when he became unwell and was rushed to the hospital.
Sommer is survived by his mother, his wife, and two sons from an earlier marriage. Still active at 98, Raphael's mother Alice was recording an interview about the Terezin years for German television when her grandsons told her of Raphael's death.
Cause of death: aneurysm.
In Terezin, Raphael turned the pages at every weekly concert his mother, Alice Hertz Sommer, a Czech concert pianist, was forced to perform, in addition to forced labor. He also performed the role of the sparrow in the camp production of Hans Krasa's story about tyranny, "Brundibar." Years later, he conducted many performances of the opera.
Raphael was one of only a handful of children to survive Terezin. Mother and son were held in a narrow room with 16 other inmates, but fortunately remained together. His father and grandmother were sent to Auschwitz, where his grandmother was murdered. His father ultimately was sent to Dachau and murdered there.
After the war, they reached Israel, where Alice became a teacher and Raphael a pupil at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem. His first instrument was the piano until, at the age of 11, he embarked on a happy and enduring relationship with the cello. Lessons with Paul Tortelier in Israel led to a scholarship for further study at the Paris Conservatory.
A succession of prizes and outstanding debut performances, followed by a season with Rudolf Serkin at the Marlboro festival in Vermont created his reputation. The Finnish cellist, Arto Noras, also a Tortelier pupil, emphasized that for Raphael, "the essential was the composer. He always tried to avoid any kind of artificial effects or instrumental mannerisms, which string players so often carry from one composition to another."
In 1967, a career as a highly respected teacher began when Raphael took over the cello department of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. England. In 1989, he became professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, as well as a judge of international competitions.
Raphael wrote that "one of the greatest pleasures of music is to make other people listen to it; to feel, for just a moment, a tiny part of an ideal world in which everything is good, beautiful, harmony, love". This feeling is what inspired him and his wife, the French cellist, Geneviève Teullières, to establish a music festival in Gex, where they had a home.
After taking part, with his mother, in a radio documentary about the music of Terezin, Sommer wrote and presented talk programs, including a profile of Tortelier and the series Manners.
Despite his terrible childhood experiences, his success was achieved by beautiful playing rather than by clever management. He cherished his private life and nurtured friendships as much as his career, read widely and enjoyed the theater.
Sommer's gifts as a recitalist found their most recent expression in the chamber ensemble Trio Salomon, which had just completed a hugely successful tour of Israel when he became unwell and was rushed to the hospital.
Sommer is survived by his mother, his wife, and two sons from an earlier marriage. Still active at 98, Raphael's mother Alice was recording an interview about the Terezin years for German television when her grandsons told her of Raphael's death.
Cause of death: aneurysm.
