Platel, Nicolas-Joseph
Platel, Nicolas-Joseph
Platel, Nicolas-Joseph , French cellist, teacher, and composer; b. Versailles, 1777; d. Brussels, Aug. 25, 1835. He was one of the pages de la musique to Louis XVI. After studying singing with Louis Richer and cello with J.-L. Duport, he completed his cello studies with J.M. de La Mare. In 1796–97 he was a cellist in the orch. of the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris. Following a sojourn in Lyons (1797–1801), he returned to Paris and established himself as a virtuoso cellist. From 1805 he made tours of Europe. In 1813 he became first cellist in the theater orch. in Antwerp. In 1820 he settled in Brussels, where he became the first prof. of cello at the Royal School of Music in 1827, a position he retained when it became the Cons. in 1832. Platel publ. 5 cello concertos, Sonatas for Cello and Basso Continuo, 6 duos for Violin and Cello, 3 trios for Violin, Viola, and Cello, solo cello pieces, and vocal romances.
—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire