Welcoming Kurt Masur to his post as its principal conductor, the London Philharmonic staged a day of events at the South Bank Centre. The Saturday concerts featured the London premiere of Thomas Adès's America alongside a performance by Alex Wilson's Latin funk-fusion octet, and collaborations with jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and world music supremo Youssou N'Dour.

This was a bizarre way to mark Masur's appointment. Masur is renowned as an interpreter of the central German tradition rather than as an aficionado of the acid-jazz scene. More to the point, the LPO is hardly known as a great exponent of world music or funk. It is famous, like Masur, for its performances of the standard orchestral repertoire.

Serge Dorny, the orchestra's artistic director, explained the musical melange as a reflection of the breadth of the LPO and Masur's tastes. However, a glance at the forthcoming season reveals programmes rigorously focused on the classical and romantic canons, especially those with Masur.

Still, as Dorny said, the LPO was in party mood. This presumably accounts for the alarming costume changes: penguin suits for "classical" Adès, faux-African shirts for N'Dour, and open shirts for Hancock. Sadly, this reflected the level of the orchestra's engagement with each musical style. The brilliant artistry of Hancock and N'Dour was reduced to a colourful parade.

There's a patronising side to this kind of eclecticism. Jazz and world music provided party numbers, unlike the "serious" work the orchestra usually carries out. This indifference to the integrity of other musical forms also backfired on the "classical" music on the programme. Adès's America - a terrifying vision of the violence underlying the American dream - was programmed next to a selection of Gershwin songs, featuring Willard White as soloist. So the power of America, representing contemporary classical music, was massively diminished, treated as a nasty, difficult piece to be got out the way before the popularity of Gershwin.