It's December, which means that much of the classical music concert schedule is devoted to some holiday that apparently occurs near the end of the month. Consult our Holiday Concert Agenda and our Handel's Messiah Agenda, if that is the sort of thing that interests you. Let's try to keep the regular agenda free of that stuff. There is plenty to talk about without it.

VOICES:
>> The annual residency of the Kirov Opera, the traveling arm of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, begins this week, and it is always memorable. Valery Gergiev's company is bringing two productions again this year, Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades (opening on December 6, 7:30 p.m.) and Verdi's Otello (opening on December 9, 3 p.m.), to the Kennedy Center Opera House. The latter work, in particular, is high on most operaphiles' list of greatest operas ever. As for ticket prices, they are expensive, but full-time students should look into the $25 tickets, available through the Attend! program, for some of the performances.

>> Baritone Konrad Jarnot will give a recital with pianist Alexander Schmalcz tomorrow night (December 3, 7:30 p.m.), under the auspices of the Vocal Arts Society at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. The program is a fascinating cross-section of late Romantic song, including pieces by Wagner, Liszt, and Duparc. Tickets: $40.

>> After giving a gala concert to open the National Symphony Orchestra's season in September, Renée Fleming will appear at another special event in the area. At her Benefit Concert for the Baltimore Opera (December 8, 8 p.m.), Fleming is unlikely to sing the Berg songs but will probably sing the Korngold arias.

INSTRUMENTS:
>> Pianist Alain Planès will make a rare visit to Washington for a recital this Sunday (December 9, 4 p.m.) on the series sponsored by the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences at Bethesda's Congregation Beth-El.

>> Pianist Yefim Bronfman will give a less rare but also worthy recital at Shriver Hall up in Baltimore (December 9, 5:30 p.m.).

>> Washington Performing Arts Society's next concert features the Philadelphia Orchestra on Thursday (December 6, 8 p.m.) at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Instead of Christoph Eschenbach, James Conlon will conduct a memorable program combining Varèse's Amériques and Ravel's La Valse with Hélène Grimaud playing Beethoven's Emperor Concerto.

>> The Emerson Quartet's latest recital in their Smithsonian Resident Associates series is on Sunday (December 9, 6 p.m.) at the National Museum of Natural History. The program includes some Beethoven, a new work by Bright Sheng, and another quartet from the Emerson's recent Brahms recording.

FREE:
>> Another fine string quartet, the Jerusalem Quartet, will return to the Library of Congress this Saturday (December 8, 8 p.m.) to play on the free concert series. Hopefully, it will not be disturbed by a fire alarm like their concert in April. The program is similar to that canceled concert but not quite the same, with the same new work by Avni, a different Beethoven quartet, and more Brahms instead of Tchaikovsky. Please, everybody, keep politics out of the concert hall and stay away from the fire alarms.

>> The Washington Bach Consort offers its monthly noontime cantata on Tuesday (December 4, 12:10 p.m.) at Church of the Epiphany (1317 G St. NW). Spend your lunch hour listening to Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich (BWV 150) and Neil Weston playing the organ.

>> Pianist Ivan Ilić will give a free recital at the Phillips Collection on Sunday (December 9, 4 p.m.). Remember that you still have to pay to enter the museum.

>> The Piano Society of Greater Washington offers its latest free recital the same day (December 9, 4 p.m.) at Silver Spring's Calvary Lutheran Church. The organization accepts donations, and there will be a reception.

>> The National Gallery Orchestra, under guest conductor Bjarte Engeset, will play on the free concert series at the National Gallery of Art on Sunday (December 9, 6:30 p.m.). This all-Grieg program is presented in connection with the Norwegian Christmas Festival.

>> For more concert information, go to Ionarts.