This strange concert formed the second half of Anne-Sophie Mutter's retrospective of Mozart's works for violin and orchestra. In the past, Mutter has proved to be a well-nigh ideal Mozart interpreter and one consequently expected something of a tour de force. On this occasion, however, it didn't quite materialise.

Never one to do things by halves, Mutter set herself the task of directing the performances as well as playing the solo lines. This, of course, was the practice in Mozart's own day, though Mutter seemed terribly ill at ease with it. Her vague arm gestures indicated an imprecise beat and speeds sometimes turned sluggish. Co-ordination between Mutter and the orchestra was occasionally poor, and it frequently fell to the LPO's leader Boris Garlitsky to keep things together.

Despite all the uncertainty, however, there were some glorious moments. The opening movement of the Fourth Concerto was articulated with superb nobility. The adagio of the Third was a single arc of exquisite sound. Mutter's choice of cadenzas, though, was a bit suspect: Joseph Joachim's for the Fourth is a romantic affair that pulls the concerto into the 19th century; Sam Franko's cadenza for the Third is spectacular, but long enough to impede the work's flow. Viola player Yuri Bashmet joined Mutter for the E Flat Sinfonia Concertante, K 364. He used a score, while she played from memory.

Orchestrally steadier than either of the concertos, the performance depended for its effect on alternating points of stylistic concord and conflict between its soloists. In the outer movements, Mutter was all poise, grace and seraphic high notes, while Bashmet responded with a reckless, improvisatory wit. The andante, however, sounded like an operatic duet of great passion, as Mutter and Bashmet unfurled the solo lines with immaculate tenderness while the LPO's pizzicato accompaniment throbbed sensually in the background.