Just dive in: Some Sommerfest tips

For novice listeners contemplating the Sommerfest schedule (or any similar menu of musical offerings), the best advice is to eschew advice and just plunge in. You need neither an instructor nor a life jacket--just a pair of willing ears. Maps and guidebooks do have their place, but only after you've gotten wet. In the concert hall, as in the bookstore or the library, serendipity is your friend.

Still want a nudge? If you like things big, put yourself in the hands of Osmo Vänskä, who on July 24 leads the Minnesota Orchestra in an enticing program of "Finland's Finest": Jean Sibelius (the granddaddy), Einojuhani Rautavaara (chosen by Sibelius to receive a fellowship) and Kalevi Aho (a student of Rautavaara whom Vänskä has long championed). A prelude to Duluth's FinnFest, this evening promises to be a winner.

Also on the big side is a 19th-century program (July 19) featuring pianist Jeffrey Biegel in one of his specialties, Edvard Grieg's concerto. And fans of virtuoso fiddling will want to investigate the 1947 Violin Concerto of Erich Wolfgang Korngold -- to be played by violinist Vadim Gluzman on an Aug. 1 concert, conducted by Andrew Litton, that closes with Brahms' untiring Symphony No. 1. Hollywood-infused, Korngold's score won't suit every taste -- "More corn than gold," the New York Sun famously sniffed -- but the composer, who died 50 years ago last November, is due for a reassessment.

If you tend to find that smaller is better, head for any of the three chamber-music concerts that brighten this year's festival. No. 2 (July 27), which spotlights Vänskä as clarinetist in Mozart's Clarinet Trio, is especially inviting. But then so is No. 1 (July 18), which couples "Café Music," by ex-Minnesotan Paul Schoenfield, with more Mozart and a trio by Ned Rorem. And No. 3 (July 30) offers Korngold's intensely romantic, pre-Hollywood Piano Quintet, with Litton at the keyboard. (Orchestra Hall is an imperfect venue for chamber music, but the performers do their best to compensate, and your ears will adjust.)

One last hint: The sound at the back of Tier 3 is surprisingly vivid, and seats there are reasonably priced. (Bring binoculars!) For tickets, call 612-371-5656 or go to minnesotaorchestra.org.

Happy listening!

LARRY FUCHSBERG, TWIN CITIES MUSIC WRITER