Piotr Anderszewski is the picture of focus as he walks solemnly to the piano for his Sydney recital.

He lingers on the first note of Brahms’s Intermezzo Op. 119 No. 1, beginning a selection of 12 of Brahms’s late pieces. Evident right from the start is a tone of liquid gold, enveloping the auditorium. Descending lines fall like gentle raindrops, and the middle section whispers with tenderness.

The dancelike Intermezzo Op. 119 No. 3 has both grace and sumptuous colour, while Op. 118 No. 1 balances ardour with spaciousness, allowing us to savour Brahms’s rich and sometimes surprising harmonies. The famous A-major Intermezzo op. 118 No. 2 is beguiling in its lyricism.

A set of consecutive miniatures from the Fantasien Op. 116 reveals starkly contrasting moods: the Intermezzo No. 2 is lonely and forlorn, the Capriccio No. 3 tempestuous, and the Intermezzo No. 4 exquisitely delicate. The spooky Intermezzo No. 5 is navigated gingerly, its fragments of melody haunting.

After a gently mournful Intermezzo Op. 117 No. 3, the barnstorming Rhapsody Op. 119 No. 4 enters with determination, albeit flagging in punch and precision by the end. Unusually, this Rhapsody begins in major and ends in minor: a reversal of the more common...