Lin Xiangning, Jonathan Shin, Geoffrey Lim and Natalie Ng School of the Arts Concert Hall July 13, 7.30pm

Series founder Chang Tou Liang’s description of this concert as a “piano recital” is a gross understatement. Four young pianists, two pianos and a programme of 10 works is huge. But often, less is more.

The pianists invited to this edition of Piano Extravaganza spanned the gamut, with three conservatory post-graduates Natalie Ng, Jonathan Shin and Lin Xiangning joined by Geoffrey Lim, a graduate in English who also holds an MBA.

Ng’s delicate touch and care in voicing the lines using just one hand did justice to Frederic Meinders’ transcriptions for the left hand of Franz Schubert’s Ave Maria and Litanei Auf Das Fest Allerseelen (a Singapore premiere), but the pieces were odd picks to kick off an extravaganza.

Lim joined Ng, taking the upper half of the keyboard in what felt like the real opening work, the Fantasie In F Minor for four hands, also by Schubert.

One of the mainstays of the four-hand repertoire, the four sections encompassed love, joy, strife, anger and more. The duo played with maturity and insight, though the pathos of the late Schubert was lacking.

Lim’s performance of Frederic Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 was played in a similar vein – thoughtful and without excess, but lacking depth. His take on Claude Debussy’s L’Isle Joyeuse in the second half could have done with the light touch he showed in the Fantasie.

Shin offered three very different ballades – his own Three City Ballads. The world premiere of these works was without doubt the highlight of the night.

Shin’s compositions are always original and refreshing. His effortless playing helped, of course, but the contrasting ballads – with hints of Chick Corea, Maurice Ravel and Dave Grusin – were pieces that clearly belonged in the canon of Singapore piano compositions.

After a first half that lasted over an hour, Lin opened the second half with the Variations Serieuses, which Felix Mendelssohn composed in support of a fund-raiser for a memorial to Ludwig van Beethoven in Bonn, Germany.

Mendelssohn wrote a set of “serious variations”, in contrast to “Variations Brillante” – virtuosic showpieces with less musical depth – that were fashionable at the time.

Lin did not seem to fully agree, though. In the most overt show of pianistic prowess of the evening, she breezed through the faster variations with brilliant, but sometimes excessive percussiveness.

The concert ended with a set of works on two pianos. Shin joined Lin for another premiere (a trademark of the series founder’s penchant for obscure piano works) – Igor Stravinsky’s Concerto For Two Pianos. Scored for just two pianos without orchestra, Stravinsky wrote it to perform with his son and often referred to the element of competitiveness between the soloists, which he had written into the score.

This was followed by the seemingly obligatory programming of Astor Piazzolla – Soledad and Libertango – by Ng and Lim. Finally, all four played Bertram Wee’s arrangement of Kelly Tang’s Symphonic Suite On A Set Of Local Tunes.

The pitfalls of packing in over two hours of music, especially works that needed time for the pianists to prepare in varied ensembles, showed. The Stravinsky is very challenging, even for father and son. Lin and Shin would have done well with months of preparation for it.

While their take on Schubert’s Fantasie was well burnished, Ng and Lim’s Piazzollas were less so. Finally, an eight-hand piano arrangement of a symphonic suite might seem audacious and adventurous, but the question is how such a piece can get the rehearsal resources – time, space and pianos – that does justice to the work.

There was abundant talent and wonderful music on show, and just Schubert’s Fantasie, Shin’s Three City Ballads and Mendelssohn’s Variations Serieuses alone would have been fine. A well-curated three-course dinner often satisfies more than a 10-course buffet.