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.