Cellist Guy Johnston and pianist Tom Poster first met at the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition in 2000, and have been firm friends and frequent collaborators ever since. During their many recitals together, Johnston and Poster have found themselves returning again and again to certain works, associating these pieces with key moments in their lives, or simply deriving great pleasure from the sheer quality of the music. Theme and Variations includes three sets of variations, but also reflects the broader theme of lives intertwining: two musicians going in different directions but regularly resuming their musical partnership. Johnston and Poster are joined for a Schubert song by exceptional tenor James Gilchrist, and, alongside sets of variations by Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Martinu, we hear deliciously romantic music by Rachmaninoff and FaurÃ©, and Kiss on Wood by contemporary Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan. To end the programme, Saint-SaÃ«ns' Swan glides into view and off into the distance.

Tracklist:

7 Variations On "Bei Männern, Welche Liebe Fühlen", Woo 46
Adagio & Allegro, Op. 70 (Version For Cello & Piano)
Romance In A Major, Op. 69
Variations Concertantes In D Major, Op. 17, Mwv Q 19
Auf Dem Strom, Op. 119, D. 943 (Version For Voice, Cello & Piano)
Introduction & Polonaise Brillante In C Major, Op. 3
Prelude In F Major, Op. 2 No. 1
Variations On A Theme Of Rossini, H. 290
Kiss On Wood (Version For Cello & Piano)
Vocalise In C-Sharp Minor, Op. 34 No. 14 (Arr. For Cello & Piano)
Carnival Of The Animals, R. 125: No. 13, The Swan (Version For Cello & Piano)

UPC: 5060189560950
Label: Orchid Classics
Release Date: 3.1.19
Format: CD

Beethoven / Johnston / Poster - Themes & Variations (CD)