New York's Orpheus opens Minnesota Beethoven Festival

Forty years ago the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra began rewriting the book on what was possible if an ensemble decided to stop working with a conductor on the podium, leaving decisions about how the music should sound to those actually playing it. Seventy-odd albums later the Orpheus is still pushing the envelope, and flies in from New York City for the opening concert of this year's Minnesota Beethoven Festival. It's an all-Beethoven lineup, featuring the Fifth Symphony and Piano Concerto No. 3, performed to a level of sophistication and unanimity that still amazes. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Winona Middle School Auditorium, Winona, Minn. $21-$25, 1-507-457-1715 or mnbeethovenfestival.org)

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Terry Blain