LPO/Kent Nagano | Royal Festival Hall, London

Like many independent-minded French composers, from Berlioz to Poulenc, Henri Dutilleux has found a readier audience offshore. Not that you'd have guessed from Wednesday's numbers, which showed the usual shrinkage that a living presence produces. But those who came knew what was what and gave the evening's warmest applause to Tout un monde lointain..., rising to an ovation when the man himself, 84 this year, stood up and shuffled down to the platform.

Anyway, you get much the same shake-out of the public if you programme Roussel, for all that his music came 50 years earlier. In Dutilleux the continuity with Roussel's symphonic strength and energy is clear, and also with the minute precision of Ravel. Tout un monde lointain... shows one of the finest ears since Ravel for harmonic movement and orchestral detail. When new, in 1970, the work named for the visions of Baudelaire seemed to exist in a trendy, druggie haze. Laid out in five sections of ever-changing texture and pace, it was one of Dutilleux's harder pieces to grasp, as elusive in form and meaning as the poetry that inspired it.

Cometh the hour, cometh the subtle exactness of Kent Nagano's conducting. A sense of direction, a continuity of line and a consistent, slightly acidic harmonic tang emerged. Moments of full power stood out sharply, but the brilliance of the orchestral colour was always vital. Equally revealing was the impact of Lynn Harrell's solo playing. Although scored for cello and orchestra, Tout un monde lointain... is more tone poem than concerto. Mstislav Rostropovich, who commissioned it, would play it with his usual blend of swagger and whim. Harrell let the cello float in and out of the foreground.

Two far-sighted and patient orchestral performances shared the programme. Nagano set a steady pace with little give-and-take, yet his judgment of balance and power delivered excitement and dramatic focus. Beethoven's "Leonore No 3" overture stayed broad and tense, heading relentlessly towards the famous discord at the climax.

For the Fifth Symphony of Prokofiev the LPO found a lean, bright tone, carefully balanced so that the dense chords stayed luminous. The mix of grandeur and delight was realised at both extremes, from the affirmation of the first movement to the infectious music-making of the finale, done with a playful concentration that seemed to leave the audience bemused.