Few young musicians come trailing such great expectations as pianist Yuja Wang. Still only 28, the Beijing-born, US resident sports a string of award-winning recordings, a reputation for muscular virtuosity at the heavy end of the repertoire and a wardrobe that has captured almost as many headlines as her formidable musicality. Last seen in Perth as an eight-year-old wunderkind (a debut she barely recalls), eager Sydneysiders packed City Recital Hall to see if the goods matched up to the hype. And on this showing, they certainly did. Yuja Wang possesses the ‘wow’ factor in spades – and then some.

To begin with, her opening was quite remarkable. Clad in a shimmering silver gown with train – which drew a gasp all of its own – Wang arranged herself elegantly at the piano and gently raised a single arm before caressing the keys in a relaxed, beautifully free reading of an early Scriabin Prelude for the left hand. An exquisite, spine-tingling segue followed as she allowed her right hand to join for one of the roughly contemporaneous Op. 11 Preludes – an utterly magical moment. All gossamer and melancholy, this was playing of such rare delicacy that for me it would...