Lucy van Dael’s improvisatory style sheds interesting light on these oft-recorded works. Her agogic adjustments in the Preludes, for instance, point up the music’s harmonic motion, and create cumulative energy within a flexible basic pulse. This kind of approach, however. renders the G Minor Sonata’s fugue as a parade of unrelated episodes. For the most part, though, van Dael fuses scholarship with sound musical instincts, notwithstanding frequent arpeggiated chords that fall short of their intonational goal. Some listeners may find the violinist’s breathing irritating, but I’m not bothered. In short, a disc worth hearing and rehearing.
