After their exploration of littleknown English music earlier this week, Sakari Oramo and the CBSO turn their attention to more familiar fare in tomorrow's "Brilliantly Bernstein" concert at Symphony Hall.
Excerpts from West Side Story, Candide, Wonderful Town, On the Town, Trouble in Tahiti and Peter Pan feature the much-loved vocalist Kim Criswell, and Timothy Lines steps forward from the principal clarinet's seat as soloist in the heady Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, once described by Sir Simon Rattle as "the sexiest piece of music ever written" (7.30pm).
Wednesday afternoon sees the CBSO offering a more standard meat-and-two-veg menu, with Smetana's haunting Vltava, Mozart's D major Violin Concerto (Alina Ibragimova the soloist) and Dvorak's popular New World Symphony.
Alexander Anissimov returns to the podium where he scored such a triumph as a very late replacement conductor for Shostakovich's Symphony no.11 last season (2.15pm).
Between these two events Symphony Hall stages several exciting concerts, with Saturday evening bringing the first in a series highlighting Tchaikovsky's last three symphonies.
Yuri Simonov conducts the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in the heroic Fifth Symphony, preceding it with Elgar's autumnal Cello Concerto in which the Russians are joined by the gifted British cellist Tim Hugh (7.30pm).
On Sunday afternoon the pianist Emanuel Ax, always a welcome visitor to Birmingham, performs a recital of Ballades by Brahms, Liszt and Chopin, as well as the world premieres of Ballades by Chen Yi, subtitled Ji-Dong-Nuo, and the much-admired Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (3pm).
David Saint, head of Organ Studies at Birmingham Conservatoire and director of music at St Chad's Cathedral, gives a lunchtime recital on the fabulous Symphony Organ on Tuesday (1pm), followed the same evening by the second in the Tchaikovsky symphony series.
This time it's the powerful Fourth, played by the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra under Yan Pascal Tortelier, preceded by Elgar again (the Enigma Variations.
Grieg's In Autumn, premiered in Birmingham under the composer's baton in 1888, opens the programme (7.30pm, all Symphony Hall details on 0121 780 3333).
A busy weekend of chamber music around the region brings the Mandelring Quartet to Leamington's Royal Pump Rooms tomorrow with a programme of Schubert, Shostakovich and Brahms (7.30pm, 01926
496277), while at the same time clarinettist Emma Johnson is accompanied by pianist John Lenehan in a varied programme ranging from Mozart to Benny Goodman and Lutoslawski at Evesham Arts Centre (01789 491251).
Also tomorrow the Vanburgh Quartet visits Bromsgrove Concerts' stylish new home at the Artrix with Beethoven's first Rasumovsky Quartet and two works written for soprano (here Patricia Rozario) and string quartet: John Tavener's Akhmatova Songs and Schoenberg's Second Quartet ( 8pm, 01527 874163).
The Vanburghs repeat the Beethoven for Birmingham Chamber Music Society at the Adrian Boult Hall on Saturday, replacing the vocal works with quartets by Boccherini and Bartok (7.30pm, 0121 303 2323).
Incidentally, BCMS has recently announced the appointment of only its third chairman in over half a century of its existence. Joe Seager takes over from John Joubert, who is stepping down after 25 years in order to devote more of his energy to composition.
Ulrich Heinen, co-principal cellist in the CBSO, is accompanied by Robert Markham at Redditch Ecumenical Centre on Saturday (7.30pm).
His attractive programme begins with Debussy's twilit Cello Sonata, continues through Webern, Schumann and Janacek, and ends with Schubert's wonderful Arpeggione Sonata (details on 01527 546056).
Also on Saturday the gifted pianist Steven Osborne takes an equally attractive programme of Poulenc, Debussy, Tippett and Beethoven (the last pair a revealing juxtaposition) to Ludlow Music Society at the town's Moor Park School (7.30pm, 01588 660535).
On Sunday the celebrity guitarist John Williams performs at Worcester's Huntingdon Hall (3pm, 01905 611427).
John Lenehan surfaces again, this time as accompanist to the exciting young violinist Amir Bisengaliev at The Courtyard, Hereford (7.30pm, 0800 1122330), and the Iuventus String Quartet plays a programme of Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert at the Shakespeare Institute, Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon (8pm, 01789 740791).
The remarkable Malvern-based Chandos Symphony Orchestra is conducted by the much-respected Michael Lloyd in the town's Forum Theatre on Sunday (7.45pm), with an enticing all-Russian programme of Rachmaninov (the sombre Isle of the Dead) and Prokofiev (his sunny Piano Concerto no.3, with Aydin Onac as soloist, and excerpts from Romeo and Juliet). All details on 01684 892277.
This run-down of events is but the tip of the iceberg in what is a very well-filled week ahead, so please keep an eye on the listings pages every day, and especially on Saturday.
Before closing, though, I must mention Birmingham Conservatoire's series of chamber concerts marking the 50th anniversary of the death of George Enescu, Romania's greatest musician and equally renowned as a composer, conductor, violinist and teacher (one of his most illustrious pupils was Yehudi Menuhin).
The opening event is at the Conservatoire on Monday (7.45pm), and includes Enescu's Octet for Strings, his Piano Suite, and the Dixtuor for Winds (that's ten of them, by the way). Details on 0121 303 2323.
