An impressive grand piano graced the City Hall’s stage but it is sobering to remember that this instrument is merely a mechanical sound maker in the hands of many. When played by someone with the pianistic genius of Alexander Gavrylyuk this elegant wooden object becomes a magical source of power, beauty, infinite colour and melodic theatre.

In a program which grew in technical difficulty and interpretative challenge, Gavrylyuk opened the recital with Mozart’s Rondo in D, playing with immense delicacy, elegant tonal contrasts and filagree runs like strings of pearls, extraordinarily even in tone. Arguably, the composer’s mannerisms were exaggerated, but there was no doubting the skill of this exceptional player.

Alexander Gavrylyuk. Photo © Marco Borggreve

In the hymn-like opening of Chopin’s Ballade No. 2, Op. 38 in F, Gavrylyuk brokered tenderness, the poignant repeated notes like a beating heart. Attentive to the emotional divide in Chopin’s work, the languid exposition was abruptly dispersed by a brilliant explosion of speedy descending and ascending gestures.

Gavrylyuk dramatised Chopin’s fierce virtuosic reaches with astonishing athleticism. Theatrically, he elevated his arms, head thrown back, the sound sustained by the pedal before diving into contrasting...