On the grounds that you cannot slot a few Chopin pieces willy-nilly into a piano recital but should present his work at leisure and at length, the young Australian Daniel de Borah chose wisely.

He began with Beethoven’s Rondo in G (Opus 51, No 2), in which the composer’s excursions away from the theme are comparatively temperate and thus pave the way for more sustained keyboard striving.

It was offered at this Merlin Music Society event by Prokofiev’s richly chordal Piano Sonata No 8 in B flat, which culminates in one of the most lively final movements of the modern piano repertory.

In a work of sinewy character, the instrument is asked continually to follow thickly-etched lines and deliver weighty and sometimes quirky matter.

But from the pinnacle, de Borah rattled off the sonata’s final Vivace as if it were the reason for the exertions leading up to it and he had earned his authority.

From such density he had to withdraw for an all-Chopin second half that did not always produce the sharply-defined elements required for music of tinkling transparency, particularly in the opening Polonaise-Fantaisie in A flat.

Yet by the end of it – and good on him for avoiding the obvious Chopin standards – he was ready to reveal in three studies (from Op 10 and Op 25) the exquisite miniatures they encompass.

It was sufficient preparation for reproducing the poetry of the Nocturne in B Op 62 No 1 and the abandon of the Scherzo No 4 in E Op 54, setting the seal on an overview of reasonable and satisfying breadth.`