Any finalist at the Leeds International Piano Competition demands attention. As runner-up in last year’s event, Louis Schwizgebel had tongues wagging as soon as his York appearance was announced by the British Music Society.

His programme of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert on Friday had cast-iron appeal. In particular, any pianist who dares to take on a recognised masterpiece such as Beethoven’s Op 27 No 2 – alias the ‘Moonlight’ – invites comparison with the greats.

But he was undaunted. He found an ideal balance between melody and accompaniment in the slow introduction and offset its solemnity with a gently naïve scherzo.

There was no holding him, however, in the finale. This was as fierce a storm as Beethoven ever concocted before the Pastoral Symphony. Here, passagework was lightning and accents thunderous, the mark of a young player stretching his instrument to its limits – just as the composer did.

This headstrong mood carried over into Schubert’s last sonata (of three) in A minor, D.845. Schwizgebel maximised the contrast between its two opening themes, the one intimate, the other menacing. The succeeding variations were neatly contrasted and the scherzo was tidy. He was a little too boisterous too soon in the finale, which had its rough edges. But his courage and aptitude were never in doubt.

Mozart’s D major sonata, K.311 had opened the evening, though it was unevenly voiced until the final rondo, which was both spirited and focused - like the pianist himself.