When pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin comes to town, it’s often to play something gnarly or seldom played. In his appearances with the San Francisco Symphony this time around, he’s scheduled for Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand, and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
While these works won’t challenge his formidable technique, they will provide another view of this fine artist. Conductor David Robertson concludes the concert with Ravel’s durable repertory mainstay, La valse. And the concert opener? Elliot Carter’s Variations for Orchestra. (It’s good to get the gnarliness out of the way early.)