Olli Mustonen is one of the most remarkable pianists of our day. The 30-year-old Finn is known for his eclectic repertoire and composing - and for playing unlike anybody else. His Beethoven Third Piano Concerto with the Hong Kong Philharmonic had Beethoven's notes and the dynamics managed - usually - to encompass Beethoven's own limited directions. The speeds were also correct. But just as Beethoven had written the work to show off the new expanded piano, so Mustonen played it as if using an electronic instrument. It wasn't the perfection of his playing (indeed, on Sunday, he played half a dozen inaccurate notes), but that he still had the control of each note, no matter how complex the development, no matter how much velocity he put into the phrasing. In the opening, he could go to extremes of loud and soft, he could bang down hard or play the most silken runs up the scale. But his control, his intensity on the keyboard gave a sharpness to every phrase. The slow movement was never really relaxed, but was so perfect one felt the composer would soon spring out in front of the audience. The Third can be a beguiling, almost easygoing piece, but not here. Mustonen played each night like it was a dagger, the legato phrases almost interruptions for the thrusting dagger-sharp painting from his quicksilver fingers. In its individual way, it was a titanic performance. The evening started with Victor Chan's Symphony Prelude, a world premiere commissioned by the orchestra. It was orderly and conservative, with lush string harmonies that could have suited Cesar Franck. What it lacked, upon first hearing, was memorable construction or particularly original timbres or themes. In other words, like so many contemporary composers, one wonders why it was written, since so little was said musically. Hong Kong Philharmonic; Olli Mustonen, pianist; Chen Zuohuang and Victor Chan, conductors; City Hall Concert Hall; January 19