'CASANOVA'S HOMECOMING'

Nov. 14-22, Ordway Center

If the music business were a meritocracy, the operas of Dominick Argento (right) would be as familiar as Puccini's. But it isn't, and they're not. Which makes the Minnesota Opera's revival of this shrewd comedy, written for the 1985 opening of the Ordway Center, all the more eventful. Backward-looking in temper and technique, the piece is brought off brilliantly -- never more so than in the opera-within-an-opera of Act I. (Perhaps because Argento was his own librettist, words and music dovetail dazzlingly.) Baritone John Fanning sings the title role in James Robinson's new production; the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is in the pit, as it was for the premiere. 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14, 17, 19, 21; 2 p.m. Nov. 22. Ordway Center, 345 Washington St., St. Paul. $20-$200. 612-333-6669, www.mnopera.org.

Chamber music/recitals: The Artaria String Quartet, resident in St. Paul, inaugurates a four-concert series with a strong Haydn/Bartok pairing. The newly formed Accordo, mixing principals of the Minnesota and St. Paul Chamber orchestras, debuts with a mostly Russian program. The Frederic Chopin Society launches its season with pianist Nareh Arghamanyan (who'll play the Humoreske of Robert Schumann). Music in the Park opens with a quintet comprising four Minnesota Orchestra string players and, wearing his clarinetist's hat, Osmo Vänskä. And the Schubert Club presents the superlative Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos in music by Bach, Schumann and Georges Enescu.

Artaria: 4 p.m. next Sun. Sundin Hall, Hamline University, 1536 Hewitt Av., St. Paul. $44-$52/series. 651-523-2459 or www.artariaquartet.com.

Accordo: 7 p.m. next Sun., 8 p.m. Sept. 22. Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Av. S., Mpls. $20. 612.340.1725 or www.southerntheater.org.

Chopin Society: 3 p.m. Oct. 4. Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, 130 Macalester St., St. Paul. $12-$20. 612-822-0123 or www.chopinsocietymn.org.

Music in the Park: 4 p.m. Oct. 11. St. Anthony Park United Church of Christ, 2129 Commonwealth Av., St. Paul. $22. 651-645-5699 or www.musicintheparkseries.org.

Schubert Club: 8 p.m. Oct. 26. Ordway Center, 345 Washington St., St. Paul. $25-$50. 651-292-3268 or www.schubert.org.

Minnesota Orchestra: New music tends to suffer in an economic slump, as presenters seek to shore up their fortunes at the box office. But don't tell the orchestra, which, after an initial salvo of Tchaikovsky, has scheduled world premieres by Finland's Kalevi Aho ("Minea") and Britain's Sally Beamish (Cello Concerto No. 2, with soloist Robert Cohen) in successive November weeks, then presents the latest edition of the invaluable Future Classics program, showcasing the work of seven young composers from as far away as Spain. Osmo Vänskä conducts.

Aho: 7:30 Nov. 5; 8 p.m. Nov. 6-7. $22-$84. Beamish: 11 a.m. Nov. 12; 8 p.m. Nov. 13. $22-$84. Future Classics: 8 p.m. Nov. 21. $12-$40. Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls. 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org.

St. Paul Chamber Orchestra: Swing your partner. The SPCO bids adieu to one artistic partner, the estimable Douglas Boyd, with British fare (including "Under the Wing of the Rock," by the suddenly ubiquitous Ms. Beamish), and greets another partner, Christian Zacharias, with an all-French program.

Boyd: 8 p.m. Sept. 24, Shepherd of the Valley Church, 12650 Johnny Cake Ridge Rd., Apple Valley; 10:30 a.m. & 8 p.m. Sept. 25: Wooddale Church, 6630 Shady Oak Rd., Eden Prairie; 8 p.m. Sept. 26: United Church of Christ, 900 Summit Av., St. Paul. $10-$25. Zacharias: 10:30 a.m. Nov. 27, 8 p.m. Nov. 27-28. Ordway Center, 345 Washington St., St. Paul. $11-$59. 651-291-1144 or www.thespco.org.

Vocal music: With characteristic inventiveness, the Rose Ensemble probes the life and works of St. Francis of Assisi, nature mystic and proto-ecologist, with an assist from Milanese multi-instrumentalist Isacco Colombo. Not to be outdone, the men of Cantus explore the natural world in "Elemental." And England's Grammy-winning Simon Halsey leads the 130 singers of VocalEssence in music by his countrymen, Vaughan Williams and Michael Tippett among them.

Rose Ensemble: 8 p.m. Oct. 2, Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church, 1900 Wellesley Av., St. Paul. 8 p.m. Oct. 3, Basilica of St. Mary, 88 N. 17th St., Mpls. $17-$35. 651-225-4340 or www.RoseEnsemble.org.

Cantus: 7:30 Oct. 23, St. Olaf Catholic Church, 215 S. 8th St., Mpls. 3 p.m. Oct. 25, St. Bartholomew's Catholic Church, 630 E. Wayzata Blvd., Wayzata. $12.50-$25. 612-435-0055 or www.cantusonline.org/tickets.

VocalEssence: 8 p.m. Oct. 24, Basilica of St. Mary, 88 N. 17th St., Mpls. $20-$40. 612-371-5656 or www.vocal essence.org.