Most of this week looks sleepy as far as classical music goes. However, by the end of the week, there will be three events, all of which are high on our December list and all happening simultaneously. How to choose?

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY:
>> Wagnerian tenor Ben Heppner is scheduled to give a recital on Sunday afternoon (December 2, 5:30 p.m.) at Baltimore’s Shriver Hall. It will be Heppner’s first appearance in Baltimore and his only recital in our area in the 2007-2008 season. If it actually happens, that is. Tickets: $39 (students, $19).

>> If you missed the world premiere of John Musto’s new opera, Later the Same Evening, inspired by five paintings by Edward Hopper, do not despair. It will receive another performance, this one free, on Sunday (December 2, 6:30 p.m.) at the National Gallery of Art. Maryland Opera Studio and the NGA Orchestra will reprise their performances from last weekend. Word is that available space will not be nearly enough to accommodate all the people who are going to show up to hear this performance, so go early.

>> Well, it’s December, and that means that the holiday concert season is upon us (a full preview of your holiday concert options will be coming on Saturday). One of the best concerts in this category will happen on Sunday (December 2, 7:30 p.m.), when Opera Lafayette presents A Rococo Noël, with the Four Nations Ensemble and Julie Boulianne, at La Maison Française. No matter what the title implies, the program is not exactly Christmas-related but it will be an evening of gorgeous French Baroque music. Tickets: $45.

ALSO GOOD:
>> Cellist Han-Na Chang plays the Elgar cello concerto with the National Symphony Orchestra this week (November 29 to December 1, various times). Also on the program is a favorite piece, the bombastic and celestial Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony, a piece that is quite memorable live, with the pipe organ making the rafters of the Kennedy Center Concert Hall shake.

>> Marin Alsop will actually be conducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra this week, including a Saturday performance in the Music Center at Strathmore (December 1, 8 p.m.). The program combines recent works by American composer Aaron Jay Kernis with Beethoven’s lovely sixth symphony, the “Pastoral.”

Photo of tenor Ben Heppner by Marco Borggreve, courtesy of benheppner.com.

Filed Under: art, baltimore, Baltimore Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, christmas, classical music, classicalmusic, concert, Concert Hall, Edward Hopper, events, French Baroque, holiday, John Musto, kennedy center, Kennedy Center Concert Hall, La Maison, La Maison Fran, Marin Alsop, Maryland, Maryland Opera Studio, music, Music Center, national gallery, national gallery of art, national symphony, national symphony orchestra, Opera Lafayette, people, Same Evening, Shriver Hall, the program, this week, tickets,