The Kettle’s Yard recital series continued on Thursday in St John’s refurbished Divinity School; a blessing and a curse, as the hall’s acoustics – clearer than the Yard itself – highlighted unsparingly both the strengths and weaknesses of 21-year-old violinist Hyeyoon Park and her pianist Florian Uhlig.

The programme set two pieces of nineteenth-century bombast – Schumann’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor (1851) and Franck’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major (1886) – against counterpoints both pre- and post-modern, in the shape of Bach’s Sonata for Violin and Keyboard No. 6 in G major (1720) and Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel (1978). The results were mixed. Young virtuosos like Park, flush with prestigious awards but yet to establish themselves on the performing circuit, need to demonstrate their adaptability. Yet they risk doing themselves a disservice if they do not play to their strengths, as nearly happened here.

The Bach was uneven. Uhlig is an old hand and tenaciously handled the intricate polyphony throughout, particularly well during his solo ‘Allegro’. Park, however, struggled to deliver the geometric clarity and lightness of touch that this kind of Bach piece requires. Especially in the quicker movements, her sound was both loud and flat, with something of the faceless precision of an air raid. The Pärt, opening the second half, was a greater misjudgement. The soft, almost cinematic minimalism jarred with the overall feel of the evening; the incessant, childlike cadences and sustained mid-range notes sounded hesitant throughout. There is still work for Park to do on the kind of restrained poise demanded, in their different ways, by both Bach and Pärt.

Happily, both players were able to unleash something more like their full potential during the two Romantic Sonatas. Park was visibly more comfortable tackling the lurching dynamics, vibrato, and flashy finger work of the Schumann, and Uhlig responded in kind. The opening ‘Mit Leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck’ called for passion and Park delivered, demonstrating an alternately teasing and gutsy lower register. A nicely varied ‘Allegretto’ and rambunctious ‘Lebhaft’ ended the first half in style.

Franck’s late French lyricism, though, was the highlight of the evening. Park showed that in the right context, she can play with remarkable discipline: the lilting rhythms and extended melodic developments of the ‘Allegretto ben moderato’ and ‘Recitative-Fantasia’ were superb. The tango-flecked ‘Allegro’ and the bombast of the closing ‘Allegretto poco mosso’ saw Uhlig throwing his weight around behind the young soloist. It was a relief that the evening ended in this kind of irrepressible and encouraging playing. Park has a long way to go but there is little doubt, on this evidence, that she can go far.