Jonathan Biss comes with a certain amount of advance publicity. A pianist, he’s 24 years old, the son of two string players, including the well-known violinist Miriam Fried. He grew up in Bloomington, Ind. – a small music capital of the U.S. – and began concertizing at an early age. Among his teachers was Leon Fleisher, at the Curtis Institute. In 2002, Mr. Biss won the Gilmore Young Artist Award, a fairly big deal. And he records for a major label (EMI).

On Tuesday night, he confirmed that he is, indeed, a talent to watch, with a recital at Zankel Hall. Mr. Biss offered an interesting program, ending in a long and challenging masterpiece, Schubert’s Sonata in A, Op. posth.

Beginning the program was a different sonata, that of Alban Berg, Op. 1. Mr. Biss is a self-possessed pianist, taking command of the keyboard, sort of claiming ownership of it. He exudes a confidence; whether we agree with what he’s doing or not, he wants to do it. In his hands, the Berg seemed Romantic and Modernist, in equal measures. This is a work of considerable beauty, which Mr. Biss brought out. And he was introspective without being selfish (interpretively) – the music remained Berg’s.

The pianist continued with one of the strangest and best of Mozart’s piano works, the Rondo in A minor, K. 511. Thankfully, Mr. Biss took a sensible tempo: He didn’t dawdle; he didn’t kill the piece with slowness (which happens). As in the Berg, he was nicely unafraid, not hindered by awe. Arthur Rubinstein quipped famously that Mozart is too easy for children, too hard for adults.

Mr. Biss gave us an admirable singing tone – but he rushed and slurred some passages. And in some places, his playing was too big, too thick. Mozart need not be dainty – must not be dainty – but neither must he be overwhelmed. The A-minor Rondo is subtle. Also, the pianist’s trills could have been smoother, and probably slower, too. And he missed a surprising number of notes, in so little a piece. (Mr. Biss’s technique is virtuosic.)

The first half of the recital concluded with a new work, Leon Kirchner’s Sonata No. 2, composed two years ago. Young as he is, Mr. Biss has a longstanding relationship with Mr. Kirchner; so does Leon Fleisher. The Sonata No. 2 is in one movement, and it is relentlessly rhapsodic. It is always driving, almost to the point of exhaustion. The sonata comes out of the Romantic tradition, and is loaded with chromaticism. One also hears touches of jazz – it swings a little.

In my view, the music takes on a feeling of noodling, suggesting a cocktail pianist picking at his instrument. But this is a creditable work, bearing rehearing. And Mr. Biss gave it fine advocacy. He breathed with it, rode with it. When it was over, the composer – sitting toward the front – looked pleased.

Schubert’s late A-major sonata is a sublime work, requiring a wise musician (as well as a good technician).The young can certainly play it – Murray Perahia did, when he was about Mr. Biss’s age, surpassingly. (What Mr. Perahia did to himself, later, is another story.) I don’t say that Mr. Biss isn’t ready for the work; he is a musical and capable fellow. But this account had its share of problems.

In the first movement, Mr. Biss’s tempos fluctuated harmfully. And he was often unsteady in the tempo he had chosen. The pianist indulged in some odd slowings down. In due course, the music lost its momentum. A little Schubertian motor should govern the first movement (and much else), and it wasn’t quite working.

A bane of the second movement, the Andantino, is overslowness, and Mr. Biss – as in the Mozart earlier – avoided that. He also gave the music a spareness, unusual for the Andantino, and effective. And the outbursts that eventually arrive were well judged. One problem, however, was that Mr. Biss’s soft playing was muted, almost disembodied, rather than quietly singing.

In the Scherzo, Mr. Biss again indulged in strange ritards, which didn’t help him, or Schubert. And he was guilty of some muddiness, especially on repeated notes. But he gave the trio a lovely character.

The closing Rondo – certainly in its main section – ought to be simplicity itself, flowing like a brook. Mr. Biss made it far too complicated, too “interesting.” He also might have been more fluid, more limpid (which can be qualities going with simplicity). Our pianist was most persuasive in stormy moments.

All in all, this was a competent performance of Schubert’s sonata, but I wouldn’t call it a satisfying one, and it was a long way from transporting.

There was just one encore, Schumann’s Nachtstuck No. 4 in F, Op. 23, No. 4. Mr. Biss accorded this little wonder its unusualness – and he was stately and composed. Indeed, this was some of his best playing of the evening.

Let me close, if I may, with four notes not strictly related to Mr. Biss’s playing. 1) He is a head-shaker. This is not the most attractive habit a pianist can have, and if it can be shed, so much the better. 2) The young man was wise to play only one encore. Many musicians commit encore abuse – they give the audience more than it wants. Mr. Biss knew when to end. 3) His audience would have been larger if the weather hadn’t been so unfriendly.

And 4) I had never before sat on the right side of Zankel Hall. The subway, there, is much more prominent – in fact, you sometimes feel as though you are in it. Too bad.