To loyal BSR readers waiting anxiously to find out how those augmented sixths in Mozart’s Jupiter and Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony work out: It's all my computer's fault.

If they have the right vision, lesser known regional conductors can outperform stars as lustrous as Riccardo Muti. Both Karl Middleman and Mischa Santora have lately demonstrated visions of their own.

Philadelphia Classical Symphony: Saint-George, Symphonie Concertante in G Major for Two Violins and String Orchestra; Mozart, Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra in E Flat Major. Hirono Oka, violin; C.J. Chang, violin and viola; Karl Middleman, conductor. October 31, 2008 at First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. (215) 228-2224 or www.classicalsymphony.org.

Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia: Rossini, Overture to L’Italiana in Algieri; Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major. Shai Wosner, piano. Haydn, Symphony No. 86 in D Major. Mischa Santora, conductor. November 9, 2008. At Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce. (215) 545-5451 or www.chamberorchestra.org.

Lyric Fest offered children an international song and dance extravaganza with the quality and sophistication that kids should be exposed to when they make their first acquaintance with the arts.

Lyric Fest: “A World of Friends.” Songs by Mozart, Ravel, Poulenc, Brahms, Barber, Shostakovich, et al. Suzanne DuPlantis, Jennifer Hsiung, mezzos; Cara Latham, Randi J. Marrazzo, Maggie Moliterno, sopranos; Mark Moliterno, baritone; Richard Troxell, tenor. Motet Choir of the Pennsylvania Girlchoir, Mark A. Anderson, conductor; Caroline Foley and the Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble; Lisa Lovelace and Her Dancing Friends; Jake Miller and Wilder Troxell, actors. November 9, 2008 at Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Ave. (215) 438-1702 or www.lyricfest.org.

I have just seen the telecast of the Metropolitan Opera’s Doctor Atomic, which gives the opera a different perspective than what I saw in an earlier live performance at the Met. I now feel greater admiration for the opera’s high spots but also greater annoyance with its shortcomings.

Doctor Atomic. Opera by John Adams; libretto by Peter Sellars. Alan Gilbert, conductor. Metropolitan Opera production through November 13, 2008 at Lincoln Center, New York. Film version shown November 8, 2008. www.metropolitanopera.org.

Visiting conductor Michael Tilson Thomas gave full measure with a concert consisting of Copland’s robust early Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, and Mahler’s Fifth. The latter is one of the signal works of the 20th Century, although its rich detail is not served by Verizon Hall’s acoustics, and its musical material was too often distended by Tilson Thomas’s erratically stretched tempos.

Philadelphia Orchestra: Mahler Fifth Symphony; Copland Symphony for Organ and Orchestra. Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Paul Jacobs, organ. November 6-9, 2008 at Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center. (215) 893-1900 or www.philorch.org.

Watching Giselle’s Room was like hearing poetry in a foreign language. But two works by Ballet X co-artistic director Matthew Neenan caused no such confusion. Ballet X, more accustomed to Neenan’s individual style and tone, gave superb performances of both pieces.

Ballet X: Giselle’s Room, by Zane Booker; Duet From Cali and Steelworks, by Matthew Neenan. November 6-9, 2008 at Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St. (at Spruce). (215) 917-1513 or www.balletx.org.

After losing her re-election campaign because she refused to fight dirty, a Republican Senator and a loyal volunteer conduct a post-mortem and weigh her future options. Vincent Delaney’s script suggests she’s both an idealist and a carping bitch. No, I didn’t believe it, either.

The War Party. By Vincent Delaney; directed by Rebecca Wright. InterAct Theatre Co. production through November 23, 2008 at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St. (215) 568-8079 or www.interacttheatre.org.

As a teenager, our critic Dan Coren fell so completely under the spell of the young Canadian pianist, Glenn Gould, that it took him more than 30 years to catch up with the great pianist whom Gould pushed off the stage: Roslyn Tureck.

A Romance on Three Legs: Glenn Gould’s Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano. By Katie Hafner. Bloomsbury, 2008. 272 pages; $24.00. www.amazon.com/Romance-Three-Legs-Obsessive-Perfect/dp/1596915242

Each of Philip Roth’s books, in some way, shape or form, explains me to me. Is Indignation a great book? I don’t know yet. But it has changed me.

Indignation. A novel by Philip Roth. 256 pages; $26.00. Houghton Mifflin. www.amazon.com/Indignation-Philip-Roth/dp/054705484X

It’s too bad the Pennsylvania Ballet didn’t stage these pieces after the election— because regardless of the outcome, these performances would have restored anyone’s faith in humanity. You can’t feel anything less than admiration after watching a corps of young people dancing with such pure elation, so fluid, lovely, and promising, as they moved in perfect unison.

Pennsylvania Ballet: “Balanchine and Tharp. ” October 29-November 2, 2008 at Academy of Music, Broad and Locust St. (215) 551-7000 or www.paballet.org.