Three Suites Opp. 72,80 & 87 for solo viola. Britten's Three Suites for Cello transcribed for solo viola by Japanese classical violist Nobuko Imai. The Three Suites were orginally a series of three compositions for solo cello, dedicated to Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, his great friend and collaborator. The suites were the first original solo instrumental music that Britten wrote for and dedicated to Rostropovich, who gave the first performances of each work and recorded Suites Nos 1 and 2 commercially. Nobuko Imai is a Japanese classical violist with an extensive career as soloist and chamber musician. She has been a recipient of numerous awards including the Avon Arts Award (1993), Japan's Suntory Music Award (1995) and Mainichi Award of Arts (1996).