Like Simon Rattle, the Japanese-American conductor Kent Nagano has taken an English provincial orchestra and singlehandedly made it a major international force. Its two evenings in the territory, though, had mixed results. There was little doubt the opening Cultural Centre concert was the most challenging. More like a retrograde art history than a concert, Nagano essayed a modern abstraction, Stravinsky's mythical exotica and Berlioz' 19th century opium-generated surrealism. For Tsuen Wan, Nagano, whose repertoire seems unlimited, went back in time to Haydn and Beethoven. The Halle Orchestra has some beautiful musicians, playing with nary a mistake. The horn trio of Beethoven's Eroica was as smooth and seamless as possible. The chamber-music intimacy of Stravinsky's Firebird suite was virtually transparent. The brass and percussion of the Fantastic Symphony were explosive and meticulous. But even under the esteemed Nagano, I felt that this was a 'recording' orchestra, lacking European grandeur or pinprick American accuracy. So now we come to the charismatic Nagano himself, his hair flowing like Franz Liszt, his dancing fingers taking the place of a baton. While I play his recordings extensively, his results in person were inconsistent. His Haydn 104th Symphony, which can be graceful, majestic and reckless, was staid and stodgy. The slow movement was one-dimensional, the minuet lacked grace. The Beethoven was cool rather than heroic. The funeral march double fugue was carefully woven, the ending - as in all Nagano's climaxes - came all too suddenly. But that opening night had some mighty moments, not least of which was Halle Orchestra composer-in-residence Thomas Ades' But All Shall Be Well. Nagano is better at spearing climaxes than building them, but he is young; his genius and character are bound to carry him to the top. Halle Orchestra, Kent Nagano, conductor; Cultural Centre and Tsuen Wan Town Hall; June 18-19