Maurizio Pollini in a Piano Concert at Carnegie Hall Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times Maurizio Pollini This Italian pianist performed a program of works by Chopin and Debussy at Carnegie Hall on Sunday afternoon. Some artists are almost universally admired, while others evoke wildly different reactions in listeners. The Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini has long conjured a disparate response: Some hear profundity in his work, others dispassion. Mr. Pollini, who canceled several concerts in New York because of illness in 2011 and 2012, won the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1960 and has since made Chopin his calling card. He is often praised for his excellent technique, although even that was not particularly solid during his performance on Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Hall. A few shaky passages or wrong notes rarely spoil a performance notable for its passion and insight. I'd certainly rather hear insightful music-making with a few wrong notes in the mix than bland, soulless perfection. But on this occasion Mr. Pollini's technical blunders seemed more noticeable simply because he hadn't won over listeners (or this listener, at least) with any kind of beautiful or poetic artistry. Both Chopin's Ballades No. 2 and No. 3 at times seemed disjointed, with indistinct voicing, rushed phrases and blurs of notes that rendered the overall flow and architecture incoherent. The Four Mazurkas (Op. 33), which came next on the program, sounded charmless and labored. Chopin's Scherzo No. 3 also had some shaky technical moments, particularly toward the end. But Mr. Pollini demonstrated a broader range of dynamics, another element missing from his monochromatic playing earlier in the program, during which he rarely explored the softer end of the spectrum. There were appealing moments in the Scherzo, like the contrast between the thunderous chords and descending runs and a more alluring touch over all. Mr. Pollini's rendition of Debussy's Préludes, Book I, proved significantly more appealing than the Chopin, although here, too, a wider range of colors and more thoughtful phrasing would have improved the performance. The most rewarding element of the program came in the encores, the second of which was a powerful rendition of Chopin's "Revolutionary" Étude, during which Mr. Pollini finally revealed some of the qualities that have won him many admirers over the years.