The Minnesota Orchestra will lean on Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Prokofiev in a two-week Sommerfest festival this July. Andrew Litton and Osmo Vänskä will each take a chamber program, and this year's semi-staged opera will be Puccini's "Tosca."

Litton kicks off the festivities July 9, conducting a concert that includes Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 (with soloist Jon Kimura Parker) and Johann Strauss' Emperor Waltz. The following night, violinst Vadim Gluzman joins the orchestra for Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, and soprano Heidi Grant Murphy will be featured in Mahler's Fourth Symphony.

Litton will move to the piano on July 11, joining Gluzman on Prokofiev's Sonata for Piano and Violin. Litton will also play the Fauré Piano Quintet No. 2, which was scheduled for last year but had to be canceled when he injured a hand in a scooter accident.

Singer Josh Ritter makes his debut with the orchestra July 15, with Sarah Hicks conducting. The next morning, Vänskä takes up his clarinet with members of the orchestra for a chamber concert featuring Mozart's Clarinet Quintet. Litton returns to the podium that same night, the 16th, for selections from Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" and Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet."

Vänskä will conduct a Beethoven program on July 17 -- the Fourth Symphony and a piano concerto to be announced, with pianist Ned Kirk.

The festival goes jazzy on July 23, with clarinetist Evan Christopher and singer Lizz Wright. The concert will feature Christopher's world premiere of "Treat It Gentle Suite, for New Orleans Clarinet and Orchestra."

Litton will conduct "Tosca" on July 24, with soprano Barbara Shirvis in the title role and baritone Stephen Powell as Scarpia.

This year's Sommerfest again will not feature a "Free Day of Music," the popular event that was canceled last year when sponsor Macy's pulled out. Also, the festival again will be limited to two weeks. Previous to 2009, Sommerfest stretched over four weeks.

Additional concerts will be announced this spring.

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299