The first thing to say about this absorbing programme is that it has been exceptionally well planned. The second‚ that it is extraordinarily well played. Though still in his early twenties prize­winning violist Lawrence Power has concertised‚ broadcast and toured with encouraging regularity. His keen reflexes‚ supple bowing and acute sense of style suggest a definite star in the ascendant. His opening selection is a tightly knit Viola Sonata that the still under­appreciated Soviet progressive Nicolai Roslavets composed in 1926‚ music that weaves a complex web of ideas based on ‘synthetic chords’. The musical language seems to meld elements of Scriabin‚ Berg and early Schoenberg and the gritty piano writing finds a sympathetic advocate in Simon Crawford­Phillips‚ an experienced chamber player with a head for complexities. Power himself fronts this highly dramatic performance with fervour and perception. Ligeti’s 1995 Sonata for unaccompanied viola opens uncompromisingly on the C string only‚ toying with pitch much as Britten does (on the horn) at the start of his SerenadeÊ–Êthough at one point Ligeti seems to be quoting Mahler 10. Its six variegated movements incorporate a jagged Presto and a haughty ‘Chaconne chromatique’ to close. Toru Takemitsu’s A Bird came down the Walk (1994) sounds more grateful to play – its repertoire of gestures edge nearer the soul of the instrument‚ or seems to – and Power makes the most of its wide range of tone colours. But for many the highlight of the disc will‚ I suspect‚ be the sequence of four pieces that WW Borisowsky arranged from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. Here Power and Crawford­Phillips collaborate for some vivid character painting‚ though be warned‚ the titling is idiosyncratic. The first piece is called ‘Montagues and Capulets’ but is in effect the ballet’s Introduction‚ and although there are musical elements of ‘Juliet’s Death’ on track 10‚ most of the music played is for ‘The Last Farewell’. Maybe the titles were designed specially for the arrangement. No matter‚ the performances are masterly and the sound is first­rate.