Hopefully, you enjoyed your vacation and had a restful break from the rat race. It was nice and all, but two weeks away from attending concerts is too much. Whatever your poison, this week offers something good to be heard.

VOCAL:
>> It must a strong recommendation if a trip to Baltimore is involved. American baritone Nathan Gunn (pictured), one of the most popular young singers on the operatic stage today, is giving a recital at Shriver Hall on Sunday (January 13, 5:30 p.m.). It is surprising that this event is not yet sold out, and at $33 (students, $17) the tickets are not outrageous. The program combines excerpts from Gunn's signature role, Papageno in The Magic Flute, with songs by Schubert, Ives, and others.

EARLY MUSIC:
>> If older music is your thing, the Folger Consort gives its annual winter concert at National Cathedral this weekend (January 11 and 12, 8 p.m.). Past installments of this January tradition make the odds good that this concert, featuring the stupendous Requiem Mass by Spanish Renaissance composer Tomás Luis de Victoria, will be worth hearing. There are few spaces in the city with an acoustic so well suited to this music.

ORCHESTRAL:
>> If you have still not witnessed Marin Alsop's inaugural season as Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, it may be because you had only three programs to do so in the fall. She will be on the podium much more in the second half of the season, beginning this weekend, conducting Dvořák's eighth symphony. Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg will join them for Shostakovich's violin concerto. The BSO comes to Strathmore on Saturday night (January 12, 8 p.m.), and there are three performances (January 10, 11, and 13) at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore.

>> If you would rather hear an orchestra from another part of the world, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra visits the area with a concert on Friday (January 11, 8 p.m.) at the George Mason University Center for the Arts in Fairfax. Pinchas Zukerman will be playing the solo in Bruch’s first violin concerto, as well as conducting works by Elgar and Tchaikovsky.

>> On the Dumbarton Concert Series, held in Georgetown's Dumbarton Church (3133 Dumbarton St. NW), the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra will play on Saturday (January 12, 8 p.m.). The program will feature a new piece, Solaris, by Washington-area composer-prodigy Dominik Maican. This young man continues to impress with the maturity of his compositional voice (he is now 18 years old), and it will be interesting to follow his progress.

STRING QUARTET:
>> Since its founding in 1964, the Guarneri Quartet has had only one change in personnel. This beloved group has announced that it will retire from performing in 2009. Your only chance to hear them in concert this year is on Thursday (January 10, 7:30 p.m.), when they present a concert in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.

>> The Left Bank Concert Society continues to offer innovative programs that combine rarely heard music with more familiar works to reveal connections. They will present their latest concert, Darkness and Light, at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater on Sunday (January 13, 2 p.m.). Rareties by Hindemith (Des Todes Tod) and Kurtág introduce the third Brahms string quartet. Tickets: $30.

FREE:
>> If cost is the problem, you can hear a recital by soprano Angela Peterson and pianist Christine Pulliam on Tuesday (January 8, 12:10 p.m.) on the free lunchtime concert series at the Church of the Epiphany (1317 G St. NW).

>> Although you still have to pay to enter the museum, you can hear a free recital by pianist Eric Himy and friends at the Phillips Collection on Sunday (January 13, 4 p.m.).

>> The free concert series at the National Gallery of Art gets under way tonight, with the New York Chamber Soloists. Next Sunday (January 13, 6:30 p.m.), it will feature the Vilnius String Quartet. Enter the West Building through the Constitution Ave. entrance.

>> For more concert information, go to Ionarts.