There are plenty of reasons to re-Joyce

MUSICA VIVA TASMANIA Joyce Yang, piano Hobart Town Hall July 21

BORN in South Korea in 1986, Joyce Yang possesses a fabulous keyboard technique allied to total rhythmic control and clarity. The crystalline textures and great virtuosity she brought to something like Liszt’s Rapsodie espagnole (Spanish Rhapsody), S254 (1863) was quite remarkable.

I initially had some misgivings with Yang’s direct and flamboyant approach to three of

Rachmaninoff’s most popular preludes ( Opus 32 No.12, Opus 23

No.4, Opus 3 No.2), which could have benefited from more interpretative light and shade.

There is certainly more musical poetry to be mined here than she was prepared to give on this occasion.

From that point on, however, Yang delivered outstanding performances, culminating in a wonderfully convincing account of Liszt’s Sonata in B minor (1853), arguably his greatest single work and a marvellous example of his “thematic transformation’’ technique of composition.

The pianist’s enthusiastic and informative introductions were also a big plus.

Young Australian composer Elizabeth Younan’s Piano Sonata (2018) was an involving, exciting three-movement piece, receiving its world premiere performances on this tour.

The surviving two movements of Janacek’s intense and highly individual Piano Sonata 1.X. 1905 were also superbly done.