The London Symphony Orchestra's schedule for the coming month is given over to a series of concerts entitled "Previn at 75". As has already been pointed out in these pages, there is some confusion about his age, and the correct title, it has been suggested, should really be "Previn at 76". Either way, the proceedings kicked off with a celebratory gala, which proved to be a relatively low-key affair that largely avoided intimations of the self-congratulatory.

The programme glanced at Previn's career rather than attempting to encapsulate it. Instead of performing one of his own film scores, Previn conducted a suite from Korngold's The Sea Hawk, gracefully pointing up its debts to Strauss and Puccini, Korngold's two mentors. Soprano Renée Fleming, for whom Previn wrote the role of Blanche Dubois in his operatic version of A Streetcar Named Desire, sang Strauss's Four Last Songs. Many expected this to be the high point of the evening, which it wasn't. There were moments of rhythmic intransigence on Previn's part, and a few snatched breaths and cut-short phrases on Fleming's.

The only work of Previn's on show was Tango, Song and Dance for violin and piano, written for his wife Anne-Sophie Mutter and performed by her with a touching sense of deep affection. Unlike some of his music, it has the virtue of compactness, though it also suffers from the unevenness of thematic inspiration that makes Previn's compositional output controversial.

The rest of the programme consisted of music by Ravel. Jean-Yves Thibaudet, subordinating flashiness to expression for once, was the soloist in a jagged, exhilarating performance of the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. The closing work was the second suite from Daphnis and Chloe. Previn's judgement of its combination of textural clarity and pulsating sensuality was immaculate. Daphnis has always been one of Previn's great achievements, and his interpretation remains second to none.