At his recital in Davies Hall tonight, Leif Ove Andsnes took the microphone to explain the ground rules: "If these pieces just stop, please don't think that I forgot the music." There were some puzzled snickers, but when D.900, D.346, and D.348 concluded, sort of, the laughter was knowing... and warm. Andsnes program includes the three "Unfinished Pieces," two Allegrettos and an Andantino, and wonderful that they are, they do just stop, mid-phrase. Kudos to Andsnes for playing them and for not "fixing them up" - no Alfano he. Looking around the hall, almost all of its 2,800 seats occupied, one remembers the time when Ruth Felt brought Andsnes to San Francisco Performances for the first time, and 928-seat Herbst Theater was far from full. It's not that the pianist "improved" that much, but rather the city - and the world - has come to see the light. Andsnes is one of the most consistently excellent musicians around. Tonight's recital of the Schubert fragments, Schumann's Four Piano Pieces, Op. 32, Beethoven's Sonata No. 31, and the Mussorgsky "Pictures at an Exhibition" showed Andsnes' fabulous range, absolute control of material - without the slightest hint of rigidity. In all, clean, beautiful notes stood by themselves and in vital, exhilarating context. Sitting close and above the piano, I also heard for the first time, marvelous overtones, vastly enriching the music. The man is a magician. Janos Gereben/SF www.sfcv.org [log in to unmask]