Joyce Yang kicked off her Australian tour with Tuesday’s performance in Adelaide, with a program featuring several popular works from the standard piano repertoire, along with a brand new Australian work. She opened with a selection of lyric pieces by Grieg. Although very short, both the Arietta from Book I and Notturno from Book V gave Yang plenty of opportunity to demonstrate sensitive phrasing and nuances. Her performance of the Scherzo from Book V was full of humour, while she brought out a mischievous, almost sarcastic quality in Puck from Book X.

Debussy’s Estampes is an incredibly evocative work, and Yang explored a wonderful range of tone colours in this performance. Her use of rubato was restrained but effective, with a lyrical tone in the melodic lines and excellent balance. Rounding out the first half of the program was Chopin’s Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brillante. Again, Yang brought out much lyricism in the Andante spianato, while the polonaise was suitably flamboyant.

This program also featured the premiere of a new piano sonata by Australian composer Elizabeth Younan. Although she is only in her twenties, Younan has already developed an idiosyncratic musical voice and a skilful compositional technique. This...