If you’re out to impress with your debut piano recital in a new city, there’s no better way than with an attempt on Beethoven’s Himalayan Hammerklavier Sonata, Op. 106.

At 62, and with 60-odd albums under his belt for the prestigious label Hyperion, Canadian virtuoso Marc-André Hamelin is firmly established in the top echelon of the world’s classical pianists, so he has no need to impress. But impress he does with this opening half of his Sydney Symphony International Pianists in Recital Series concert in the stunning acoustic of the City Recital Hall.

Marc-André Hamelin. Photo © Sim Canetty-Clarke

I was lucky enough to see him perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the SSO and Sir Donald Runnicles the previous day, so I am primed to expect some similar magic. But if that performance was all brilliance underpinned by spirituality and serenity, this take on the longest and hardest of the 32 sonatas is all about power, energy and ferociously focused technique.

There is also plenty of scope for poetry – the wonderful long...