Turkish viola doyen Ruşen Güneş dies 

Turkish viola player Ruşen Güneş died on May 29 at the age of 80 in London, where he had been living since 1969.

Ruşen was born on March 17, 1940 in Ankara where, after primary school, as a musical prodigy, he was sent to study violin at the Ankara State Conservatory. However, in 1963, winning a scholarship, he was sent to the Royal College of Music in London, where he switched from violin to viola.

Soon after graduating, Ruşen was snatched by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, then by the BBC Symphony, ending up in 1972 at the Royal Opera House Orchestra, where he led the viola section, under the baton of countless legendary conductors including Karl Böhm, Otto Klemperer, Wolfgang Sawalisch, Joseph Krips, Sir Colin Davis and Sir Georg Solti.

Indeed, it was at the Royal Opera Covent Garden, in the 1970s, where I was working as an assistant stage director when I met Ruşen. Sharing a love of music and life, we soon became close friends. Those days Ruşen lived in London's Hampstead, with his attractive English wife Ruth, a violinist whom he had met while both students at the Royal College of Music, and their two toddlers, Leyla and Kerim.

I was a frequent visitor to their house, often abusing their hospitality, chatting about life and listening to records until late.

By the late 1970s I left Covent Garden, now working exclusively with Sir Peter Ustinov. However, if less frequently, Ruşen and I still saw each other fairly regularly. Indeed, in 1984, he was of great help to me in "fixing" the session players, when I produced a movie, "Memed My Hawk," and needed an orchestra to record the film score.

Ruşen handpicked the players, the best instrumentalists in London, for the recording sessions. Sadly, the Greek composer, Manos...