See my Youtube Symphony Masterclass.

Beethoven by Arrangement
In June I recorded a disc entirely of works for viola and piano by Beethoven. Yes, we all know that he wrote nothing for the viola, but that's not enough to stop me. In addition to the well-known Notturno, I played my own arrangement of the Horn Sonata and the main work is a brilliant transcription of the Septet Op 20 made in the 1850s by Freidrich Hermann which I have thoroughly revised and edited.

It turns out however that he did write something for viola, or at least started to. In one of his sketch books was the opening (eight bars only) of a 'Sonata for Pianoforte and Viola' in A major. This is receiving its première recording, all seventeen seconds of it!

The pianist is David Owen Norris and he is playing a Viennese piano from the 1860s. The combination of my Amati from 1620 and this beautiful piano we hope will make a very special recording.

The recording will be released by Toccata Classics possibly as early as this Autumn.

Over the last few years I have got to know the talented American composer Kenneth Fuchs through working with him on recordings of his works with the LSO.
He has now written a wonderful new concerto for me which I shall be premièring in April 2010 in the USA.
It will also be on his next LSO disc which we will be recording in August 2011.

Sir Harrison Birtwistle is currently writing a duo for violin and viola which I will perform at a concert in London on November 25th. This should be a very exciting new piece, watch out for more information.