A PHILHARMONIC JOURNEY BACK IN MUSICAL TIME.

Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent

It was deja vu all over again at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Thursday night. Pianist Andre Watts joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic under guest conductor Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos in a program of Ravel, Saint-Saens and Rimsky-Korsakov that could have been played by these very same forces in 1973.

That impression was furthered by the conductor's reversing Esa-Pekka Salonen's recent decision to divide the violins -- firsts on his left, seconds on his right. Fruhbeck de Burgos clumped them together stage right. He also moved the basses back to stage left.

In truth, Watts, a perennial favorite in these parts and just about everywhere else, and Fruhbeck de Burgos, an old-school maestro in the real sense, have never before performed together with the Philharmonic. But you wouldn't know it from their rapport, which was seamless. Both artists began their associations with the orchestra back in the 1960s.

`Dead' comes alive

Despite its title, Ravel's ``Pavane for a Dead Princess'' is not, by the composer's own admission, a funeral lament. It is rather a work intentionally rendered in a defunct style, which made it all the more fitting as the start of this program. Under Fruhbeck de Burgos' baton, the piece emerged as touching, simple, straightforward, remarkably unhurried and admirably lush. The French horns were fuzzy at the opening, but Lou Anne Neil's translucent harp sound and the transparency of the small string choir offered ample recompense.

Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 2 used to be a great favorite, with the likes of Arthur Rubinstein and other barnstormers playing it. But this orchestra hasn't played it since March 1973 -- when, as it happens, Rubinstein performed it. Watts, a pianist in the grand manner, played the work fiercely, if not always cleanly. The main attraction was the wash of color and sonic oomph he produced, but there was occasional eloquence, too.

The concerto's second movement is particularly well known, its loping theme producing toe tapping even among the unwilling. Watts played it with lumbering affection, and Fruhbeck de Burgos and the orchestra offered effervescent support. As for the fast-paced finale, it was a headlong rush, with the brasses providing almost menacing atmosphere and Watts in full virtuoso mode.

Rimsky-Korsakov's ``Scheherazad'' is another of those once-omnipresent works. A orchestral showpiece to beat the band, It is arguably the apogee of musical exoticism, with Rimsky's Technicolor orchestration offering just about every member of the vast ensemble an opportunity for display -- though none more than the first violinist (in this case, Martin Chalifour), whose role is so great, he is credited as a soloist in the Philharmonic's program.

East meets West

Tight and fittingly characterful, Chalifour's playing was exactly what was needed to conjure the mysterious East. But he was far from alone in this achievement. And cellist Peter Stumpf, bassoonist David Breidenthal, oboist Ariana Ghez, flutist Catherine Ransom Karoly, clarinetist Michele Zukovsky, trumpeter James Wilt and several percussionists brought nuance and vibrancy to the work. And if Fruhbeck de Burgos' approach softened the edges from what we've come to expect from the Philharmonic, the loss of definition was made up for in sheer relish and coloration.

RAFAEL FRUHBECK DE BURGOS CONDUCTS THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC, WITH PIANIST ANDRE WATTS - Three stars

Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

What: Guest conductor Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos leads the orchestra in music by Ravel, Saint- Saens and Rimsky-Korsakov, with Andre Watts as piano soloist.

When: 8 tonight and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets: $15-$135. [phone] or www.laphil.com.

In a nutshell: It's old-home week at the Phil, with Fruhbeck de Burgos and Watts performing favorites your grandmother once loved.