Orchestra 2001 looks at four pieces, each built around a distinctive framework, including two written by the durable Elliot Carter in his 90s.

Orchestra 2001: Piston, Divertimento for Nine Instruments; Carter, Asko Concerto; Carter, Dialogues (Emmanuel Arciuli, piano); Copland, Appalachian Spring. James Freeman, conductor. November 15, 2008 at Independence Seaport Museum. (610) 544-6610 or www.orchestra2001.org.

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.

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

James Conlon has long championed the forgotten generation of composers who were silenced by the Nazis, most of them because they were Jewish. His podium manner Friday was colloquial, comprehensive and not at all intimidating. Why isn’t he being considered for the Philadelphia Orchestra’s music director?

Philadelphia Orchestra: Beethoven Schreker, Zemlinsky. James Conlon, conductor; Mary Dunleavy, soprano; Rodrick Dixon, tenor. October 30-31, 2008 at Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center. (215) 893.1900 or www.philadelphiaorchestra.org.

Four out of five isn’t bad usually, even in a piano recital, but when it’s the Appassionata you miss, that’s a problem. An exemplary performance of the Les Adieux sonata did make substantial amends in the second half of Andras Schiff’s all-Beethoven recital, but the major work on his program suffered from a studied underplaying that robbed it of its force, and even made parts of it sound dull.

Andras Schiff: All-Beethoven piano recital. Presented by Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, October 31, 2008 at Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center. 215) 569-8080 or www.pcmsconcerts.org.

Catherine de’ Medici encountered her problems as queen of France. But Piffaro reminds us that she got to listen to some great music while she was dealing with them.

Piffaro: “Italy and France, A Florentine Patroness at the Parisian Court.” Verdelot, Pisano, Certon, other Italian and French composers. Shari Alise Wilson, soprano; Grant Herreid, Greg Ingles, Joan Kimball, Christa Patton, Priscilla Smith, Robert Wiemken, Tom Zajac, musicians. Joan Kimball and Robert Wiemken, co-directors. October 25, 2008 at Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Ave. (215) 235-8469 or www.piffaro.com.