A recital by John Roberts – his first since coming to Australia from Furman University, South Carolina – yielded many felicities, notably in Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. From a number of points of view, Roberts was at his admirable best here, displaying in some of the formidably difficult writing in the repertoire, accuracy at high speed, stamina, near-impeccable memory and an ability to suggest and sustain atmosphere. All this was apparent in Baba-Yaga, Mussorgsky’s incomparable evocation of witch-like evil. Roberts rose splendidly to the occasion, playing, as Mussorgsky has directed, with vigour and ferocity, and bringing both to this and the concluding Great Gate of Kiev, noble tone and more than touch a of barbaric splendor. Mussorgsky was equally well served in other movements: in Tuileries, for instance, where Roberts very effectively and appropriately conveyed a mood of childlike playfulness and in the pinpoint precision of the Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks. A feature of Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata is that, despite its commanding and virtuoso utterances, each of the three movements evolves from pianissimo beginnings. An athletic, aggressive approach at crucial climactic points was pleasing as were well-spun trills and deft pedalling. The recital opened with two infrequently heard Scarlatti sonatas – K.96 in C, the plaintive possibilities of which were fully explored, and K. 141 in D minor, in which there was some adroit handling of the repeated notes. In music of a very different kind, Ravel’s Jeux d’Eau, one was able to savour playing of cool and graceful fluency. This was presented with an ease and assurance which belied the very considerable technical difficulties the music poses for the performer.