Joseph Havlat’s new album includes pieces by Cassandra Miller, Michael Finnissy and Robert Schumann. The jointly composed set of variations by Miller and Finnissy on the old Spiritual ‘Sinner, don’t let this harvest pass’ (which gives the album its title) sets the scene for an engrossing exploration of the art of making variations. It is followed by Schumann’s last piano work, his Geistervariationen, and Finnissy’s ingenious paraphrase of them (RS Geistervariationen), in which Schumann is recalled through the double lens of Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op. 23, reimagined by Finnissy. If that sounds confusing, the piece itself is not: as with his Verdi transcriptions, Finnissy finds new things to say around and about Romantic repertoire, and the effect is one of hearing old ideas through a new prism. The programme ends with Miller’s Philip the Wanderer (2012). Havlat’s playing is ideally detailed and colourful, and the booklet includes the fascinating email correspondence between Finnissy and Miller about their collaboration on the ‘Sinner’ variations