Michael Dungan is impresseed with the passion of pianist, Finghin Collins at the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.

Schumann- Faschingsschwank aus Wien.

Berg- Sonata Op 1. Beethoven- Sonata in F minor, Op 57, "Appassionata".

The "jest" in Schumann's 1839 Carnival Jest From Vienna (Faschingsschwank aus Wien)is a quotation from Le Marseillaise, a tune forbidden in Vienna at the time.

Pianist Finghin Collins elected not to underline Schumann's cheeky irreverence in a rather straight performance, capitalising instead on the head-on impact of the first movement's thundering octaves and impetuous rhythmic drive. Indeed, at nearly every opportunity Collins unleashed waves of powerful expression so that his textures swelled up into great roiling torrents.

It was exciting and impressive, although a similar approach was not always to the music's advantage in Berg's short but intense early Sonata. It, too, called on Collins's weighty force, but was sometimes missing the contrasting tenderness and reflection that provides the foil to Berg's late romantic indulgence.

There was a more natural balance between the emphatic and the lyrical in Beethoven's aptly nicknamed and much-loved "Appassionata" Sonata. Collins brought out Beethoven's almost polarised contrasts between the opening's quiet, darkened expectancy and its dramatic outbursts. As he had done in each of the later movements of the Schumann, Collins introduced new air in a flowing account of the central movement's theme and variations.

He then deployed his best-placed power-playing of the concert, pursuing Beethoven's gradual build-up to a thrilling, tumultuous conclusion with one final, monumental unloosening of all his passion and facility.