A few years from now, when Charlie Albright is known for consistently meshing an impressive set of technical skills with the mature insights of a bona-fide master musician, the people who were in the audience for his piano concert Sunday afternoon will be able to say, “I saw him when. . . .”

As it stands now, he’s pretty close. His performance of what was arguably the single most emotionally demanding piece on his program, Leos Janacek’s Sonata in E flat minor (aka “October 1, 1905”), was superb. His approach to the work’s powerfully expressive second movement displayed the kind of maturity one usually doesn’t expect from a young virtuoso, and the result was one of those “take-it-with-you” memories that occur rarely, in even the most affecting of concerts.

Albright, 22, began with an impassioned, romantically tinged rendition of Franz Joseph Haydn’s Sonata in E flat major (Hob. 16/52) that used plenty of pedal. It wasn’t exactly the most idiomatic performance of the piece and didn’t exactly do justice to the composer’s material, but it was an interesting approach nonetheless.

Next up was Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera paraphrase (from his own opera), the Ricercare and Toccata on a Theme from “The Old Maid and the Thief.” It was a pleasant bonbon and one that has appeared on a You-Tube clip with Albright playing it.

Chris Rogerson, an Amherst High School graduate, was commissioned to create a piece for Albright to play, and the result was a three-movement score, “ ’Til It Was Dark,” from which the pianist performed the opening and closing sections. The first movement was reminiscent of some of the works you’re likely to hear during the student portions of the avant-garde-oriented June In Buffalo series of concerts that Rogerson has taken part in. The piece’s finale was more accessible, featuring some finely nuanced writing admirably executed by Albright.

The second half of the concert featured the aforementioned Janacek piece and a selection of six etudes from the 24 that Frederic Chopin included in his op. 25. These were the kinds of showpieces, filled with virtuoso passagework and the composer’s distinct approach to keyboard artistry, that have allowed Albright to display his musical wares.

He was impressive in most of them, but it was the seventh and ninth etudes, in C sharp minor and G flat major, respectively, that stood out for more than the pianist’s formidable technical talents.

Albright is indeed a talent whose progress demands attention. Let’s hope he comes back.

Concert Review

Charlie Albright

Part of the Buffalo Chamber Music Society’s Gift to the Community Recital Series. Sunday afternoon in the Mary Seaton Room of Kleinhans Music Hall.