Sommerfaves: The best orchestra selections

Even in a lean year, Sommerfest has a fairly extensive menu of classical, jazz, comedy, pops and opera. In addition, the chamber concerts appear to be serious and meaty. To help guide you toward a selection, we asked five people who spend a lot of time with the Minnesota Orchestra for their four favorites.

Larry Fuchsberg

Music critic and writer

1 Chamber music with Osmo Vänskä. The first of two chamber programs this Sommerfest, featuring works by Max Bruch (remembered almost exclusively for his Violin Concerto), the 20th-century Englishman Lennox Berkeley and Robert Schumann, whose bicentennial will be celebrated next year. (11 a.m. today)

2 Andrew Litton leads the orchestra in music by Paul Dukas, Gerald Finzi and Camille Saint-Saëns (the rousing Organ Symphony), and doubles as pianist in Gershwin's evergreen "Rhapsody in Blue." (8 p.m. next Friday)

3 Chamber music with Litton. Bach, Stravinsky, Fauré and Martinu share the bill. (7 p.m., July 26)

4 "Aida." Litton leads a concert performance (no pyramids or elephants, alas) of Verdi's grandest opera, with soprano Latonia Moore in the title role. (8 p.m. Aug. 1)

DONNA FITERMAN

A longtime orchestra patron, she has tickets for seven shows (she gave one night away). "I'm not a summer person for the lakes. I live downtown and it's very convenient to go to the orchestra."

1 "Night in Vienna." I always love that music. They have it every year and especially in the summer it just feels like Sommerfest. (8 p.m. today)

2 "Rhapsody in Blue." That's a favorite of mine. They've done it several times and I like that especially well. (8 p.m. July 24)

3 "Art of Passion" with the Irvin Mayfield Quintet and the orchestra. The jazz is a nice change of pace. I like some variety. (7:30 p.m. Thursday)

4 "Aida." I go every year. Because I go so much, they notify me and I get the first seats available.

Gwendolyn Freed

Vice president for marketing and communications at Gustavus Adolphus College and spouse of violist Ken Freed

1 I'm looking forward to "Aida," big-time. It's thrilling and it looks like it should be really great. I love how Bob Neu has staged the operas.

2 Beethoven's Fifth. Osmo (pictured at right) is my favorite Beethoven conductor anywhere. He has a muscular energy, forceful interpretation without being bombastic. (8 p.m. Saturday)

3 Chamber music with Litton (pictured at right). He's a phenomenal pianist. I'm looking forward to hearing the Fauré Quintet No. 2 and the Martinu trio. (7 p.m. July 26)

4 The Mendelssohn. He's a real melodist and I like the refinement and clarity of his work. The Italian Symphony is one of my favorites. And the "Midsummer's Night Dream" has a really hard violist part. (8 p.m. July 31)

Bill Schrickel

Principal bassist

1 Beethoven's Second and Fifth with Osmo. If someone wants to hear the highest level of music-making, that's the concert of the summer. Having recorded all the symphonies, there's something extraordinary when we play Beethoven with him.

2 "Peter and the Wolf." We've done this a number of years, and it's some of the most clever stuff. It's a brilliant conception, "Peter and the Wolf" acted with found objects, like they went out with a broken-down shopping cart and found their props and costumes. We play the music straightforward, and the narration is straight, but the acting is hilarious and brilliant. (2 p.m. Saturday)

3 "Aida." That's a no-brainer. We don't get to play the operas very often, so it's fresh for us. I enjoy something new and the players really dig in. It's always a vibrant performance. Andrew brings in good singers and he loves extravagant big numbers.

4 Vivaldi's "Four Seasons." Violinist Chad Hoopes is a child prodigy. He played a movement of the Mendelssohn concerto two years ago in Bloomington with real conviction and control of the instrument. I think it will be more than just, "Oh, isn't it amazing that someone so young can play so well?" He gets deep into the music and it's worth witnessing in person. (8 p.m. July 25)

John Huie

Longtime subscriber to the orchestra (and to the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra). "We live in Woodbury, but downtown Minneapolis is my old stamping grounds."

1 Beethoven's Fifth. We hadn't heard it for a few years so we thought it was time.

2 "Art of Passion." We are subscribers to the jazz series and there are some good things on the program.

3 "Rhapsody in Blue." We've always enjoyed Gershwin.

4 "Aida." We haven't missed one of the operas in a long time.

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299