Bravura playing in the music of Franz Liszt drew extended ovations at pianist Michael McHale's Sunday afternoon recital at the Phillips Collection. The young Irish artist, appearing in the third of four "Rediscovering Northern Ireland" concerts at the gallery, was clearly up to the demands of Liszt's far-ranging "Après une Lecture de Dante": He handled with gusto and skill the powerfully climbing themes and the thunderous climaxes that one expects in this evocation of Dante's hellish "Divine Comedy."

Yet, one could draw deeper satisfaction from the more delicate and calibrated sides of McHale's artistry that dominated this pleasing concert. At the start was a beautifully proportioned and energetic account of Mozart's Sonata in C Minor, K. 457. This is one of the composer's more dramatic works, which, as McHale pointed out, inspired Beethoven's impassioned "Pathetique" sonata.

Surprisingly, McHale highlighted the work's intricate construction and carefully spaced textures with a focused tone and sense of forward movement. This coolness carried into Samuel Barber's "Excursions," Op. 20, a set of four character pieces. Scenic moments, like the bluesy third movement and the hoedownlike finale, surely received their due. Yet McHale's greater concentration came out in less picturesque passages, the dewy harmonies and rhythmic driving sequences, at one point scrunching his face within inches of his fleet fingers scurrying around the upper registers.

McHale paid tribute to his homeland with a mysterious account of Ian Wilson's "For Eileen, After Rain," combining rich reverberation and more songful lines. The playing was again anything but over-the-top and effusive. Such a smart, restrained and fastidious display raises expectations for pianist David Quigley, McHale's compatriot who closes out the Phillips's Northern Ireland series this Sunday.

-- Daniel Ginsberg