The idea of a musical refrain (a recurring theme, chorus or ‘hook’) unifies the works on this album, making for an intriguingly varied and satisfying playlist. Two spaciously paced performances of Couperin’s Les barricades mystérieuses bookend the programme, the second of them being the more inward and dynamically contained. Couperin’s undulating melodic contours are similar in character to the Schumann Arabeske’s returning refrain. Although I appreciate the way Simone Dinnerstein takes time to smell the flowers, so to speak, she works too hard articulating the inner voices, while the march-like interlude’s dotted rhythms are stiff and clunky: no one touches the sophisticated simplicity of Arthur Rubinstein’s priceless live 1961 Carnegie Hall recording (RCA, 7/81).

The reiterating modules throughout Philip Glass’s Mad Rush can take Dinnerstein’s flexibility and rhythmic leeway, which markedly differs from the tighter, more driving interpretations by Lisa Moore (OMM, 5/15), Jenny Lin (Steinway & Sons) and the composer himself (Sony). Dinnerstein plays a Glass-like repeated phrase several times as a lead-in to a sprightly rendition of Couperin’s Le tic-toc-choc, followed by a Satie Third Gnossienne disguised as a Bruckner adagio that reeks of fake profundity.

Dinnerstein’s twitchy rubatos dissipate the surging energy of the opening movement of Kreisleriana, while she underplays the second movement’s brisker interludes. Here the pianist’s super-protracted main theme defines self-indulgence, yet what beautifully singing long lines she produces. Despite square and prosaic phrasing in No 3, one must credit her uncommonly clear articulation. I frankly find the fourth movement uninteresting in relation to its neighbours, yet it inspires Dinnerstein’s most rapt and concentrated slow-motion pianism. By contrast, her playfully light and supple fingers vivify the capricious No 5. She gets around No 7’s dashing hurdles, albeit without the dynamism and transcendent authority distinguishing the catalogue’s best versions. Minute ritards at phrase-ends throughout No 8 become increasingly predictable, while the textures and rhythmic momentum grow thicker and heavier as the music progresses. In sum: uneven Schumann, pretentious Satie, persuasive Couperin and absorbing Glass.