Dutoit, Lugansky make fine pair at SF Symphony

In Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Lugansky adapted his formidable keyboard technique — which under other circumstances can register with more vigorous weight — to comport with the more understated, insinuating tone that the conductor had established.

The keyboard passagework sounded more glittery and brittle than usual, and the expansive 18th variation — in which Rachmaninoff plunges the audience into a gorgeous sea of sentiment by turning Paganini’s theme upside down — registered as a fluid, exquisitely shapely interlude.

The Ravel sounded both evocative and lithe, with well-turned solo contributions from assistant concertmaster Mark Volkert, associate principal violist Yun Jie Liu, and contrabassoonist Steven Braunstein in his surefire appearance as the latter title character in “Conversations of Beauty and the Beast.”

The instrumental playing was just as resplendent in the Fauré, but here Dutoit turned his attention even more assiduously to the rhythmic requirements of the music, giving each movement a sleek and propulsive turn.

Music from Stravinsky’s “Firebird,” in the 1919 suite, wound up the evening with a welcome burst of dramatic intensity.