A Beethoven symphony should be rehearsed like chamber music, only for a lot more people."In Vienna and Dresden (and under the terms of his exclusive new DG recording contract, these orchestras, along with the LSO, are at the hub of his activities) they have the time to make "chamber music" Points of style are negotiable. I fuss about balances and interior rhythmic things much more these days. And I absolutely insist upon adequate rehearsal time - particularly for the pieces that orchestras know best. And isn't it interesting that all the people who made their reputations by making sure that everybody played out of tune are now saying 'Oh boy, let me at the Tchaikovsky symphonies'!"Previn's working methods have changed greatly with the years "I work in much more detail now.

Which is his way of countering "the tyranny" of the early instrument school "Look, it's valid, it's fascinating as research But that's the way music used to sound It doesn't sound that way any more... He plays Mozart (probably more than anyone else) and Beethoven - "the Bruno Walter way". He gets to indulge his passion for the great Viennese classics after years of being pigeon-holed as the last great Romantic.In Vienna, they love his Haydn ("Isn't it ironic that Bernstein and I should have revived an interest for Haydn in that city?"). "Guesting" with orchestras the world over means no more wrangles with the Board, no more fundraising, no more ladies who lunch. Now he's Conductor Laureate of the LSO (one of those "name on the stationery" titles), his priorities are all about making music, not news Success is the freedom to choose. The marketing of Andre Previn was all part of his reincarnation.But that was then.

He made the Morecambe and Wise Show (Eric: "I am playing the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order"), he made Madame Tussauds He made Mia Farrow He brought a little bit of Hollywood to classical music. But then, he's done the media circus in a big way, and never particularly enjoyed it.During his 11 eventful years at the helm of the London Symphony Orchestra (1968-1979) - one of those great musical gambles that paid off big-time - he made headlines, lots of headlines. He doesn't give you more than you ask, and sometimes you ask for more than he gives. "And that's the hardest part of all." Previn is a patient and gracious interviewee That dry sense of humour of his always hits the mark. But still there's a degree of wariness, of formality in his manner (his German origins?). This is the elder-statesman, nothing-to-prove-and-everything-to-savour phase "Nothing to prove, except to myself," he says. Very useful.Right now he's in what you might call Phase 3 of his career.