Tchaikovsky Marathon

If you ever had the hankering for a Tchaikovsky binge, now's the time. Four of the composer's six numbered symphonies are featured this week in the Minnesota Orchestra's ongoing Tchaikovsky Marathon. Monday's program couples the First Symphony with the hugely popular Piano Concerto No. 1, while Friday brings the intense Fourth Symphony with the rarely heard Piano Concerto No. 2. Saturday sandwiches the elegant "Rococo Variations" (with cellist Anthony Ross as soloist) between Symphonies 2 and 5. A feast for lovers of the great Russian composer. (2 p.m. Mon., 8 p.m. Fri. & Sat.; Orchestra Hall, Mpls., $12-$96, 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org)

Winter baroque

The Lakes Area Music Festival continues its excellent winter concert series with a recital of baroque music, featuring a concerto for piccolo by Vivaldi and Bach's Fifth Brandenburg Concerto. Minnesota Orchestra musicians Kathryn Bennett, Sifei Cheng and Roma Duncan are the guest soloists, with the festival's artistic director, Scott Lykins, on cello. (7 p.m. Thu., the Woman's Club of Minneapolis; 2 p.m. Sun., Trinity Lutheran Church, Brainerd, Minn.; free, lakesareamusic.org)

Superlative Mozart

Mozart's 27 piano concertos are among the finest ever written, combining elegance and tunefulness in equal measure. The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's latest collaboration with New York pianist Jeremy Denk has him playing the intense minor-key No. 20 and the sunnier No. 25. (8 p.m. Fri. & Sat, 2 p.m. Sun., Ordway Concert Hall, St. Paul, $12-$50, 651-291-1144 or thespco.org)

Epiphany concerts

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was one of the great composers of the Renaissance period. Two of his signature pieces — "Salve Regina" and the "Missa Papae Marcelli" — form the backbone of this Epiphany program by vocal consort Consortium Carissimi. Also featured are motets for two and three sopranos by Giacomo Carissimi. (7:30 p.m. Sat., 3 p.m. Sun.; St. Paul Seminary Chapel, St. Paul, $10-$25, consortiumcarissimi.org)

Listening for 'eco-music'

Twin Cities composer Steve Heitzeg writes what he calls "eco-music," something he defines as "music that aspires to promote environmental justice, peace and human rights." That helps explain why Heitzeg's scores often incorporate bones, shells and bark alongside more conventional instruments. This fascinating recital of Heitzeg's chamber music features electric guitar, harmonic whirlies and plastic water bottles as well as two world premieres: "Seabirds and Stones" for solo piano and young people with stones and "Refugee." (2 p.m. Sun., Lakeville Area Arts Center, Lakeville, $15-$18, lakevillemn.gov)

TERRY BLAIN