Prime pianist

Expect sparks when pianist Marc-André Hamelin starts to play — he is one of the most stunningly virtuosic performers on the international circuit. His recital at Winona's Minnesota Beethoven Festival features works by Beethoven and Feinberg, with Liszt's blistering Sonata in B minor. (7:30 p.m. Tue., Harriet Johnson Auditorium, Somsen Hall, Winona State University; $21-$25, 1-507-457-1715, mnbeethovenfestival.org)

Rossini on the Range

Rossini hits the Iron Range this week when Northern Lights Music Festival presents "The Barber of Seville." Baritone Sean Anderson stars as the coiffeur who can fix virtually any situation, with Chrystal E. Williams and Norman Shankle as the young lovers whose situation needs fixing. (7 p.m. Fri., Veda Zuponcic Auditorium, Mesabi East, Aurora; 3 p.m. Sun., Chisholm High School Auditorium, Chisholm; 7 p.m. July 16, Washington Auditorium, Ely; $15-$40; 218-780-2292, northernlightsmusic.org)

'Carmen' in ruins

Most of the opera "Carmen" takes place outdoors, so the ruin courtyard at Mill City Museum should provide an apt setting for Mill City Summer Opera's new staging of Bizet's simmering masterpiece. Mezzo-soprano Audrey Babcock is Carmen, while tenor Adam Diegel sings Don José, her obsessive and eventually spurned lover. (7:30 p.m. Fri. and Sun. Ends July 24. Mill City Museum, Mpls. $50-$125; 612-875-5544, millcitysummeropera.org)

'Sensory-friendly'

The Minnesota Orchestra has experimented recently with small-ensemble "sensory-friendly" concerts, featuring special programs tailored to audience members on the autism spectrum or those with other sensory sensitivities. This week marks the first sensory-friendly concert with the full orchestra. Short pieces by Copland, Beethoven and Stravinsky rub shoulders with snippets from Bernstein's "West Side Story" and the score from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." Minneapolis cellist Nygel Witherspoon, 16, performs Fauré's "Élégie." (2 p.m. Sat., Orchestra Hall, Mpls. $12; 612-371-5656, minnesotaorchestra.org)

Bach and Brews

J.S. Bach's sacred music is so well known it's difficult to imagine him doing anything other than playing the organ or leading the choir at Leipzig's St. Thomas Church. But Bach was also a social creature, giving regular performances of nonreligious music at the local coffeehouse. Oratory Bach Ensemble recreates these convivial concerts with a performance of Bach's "Peasant Cantata" at Twin Cities taprooms. Also featured are drinking songs by Purcell and a sonata by Telemann. (8 p.m. Sun., Unmapped Brewing, Minnetonka; 8 p.m. July 16, Headflyer Brewing, Mpls., $5-$24.99, oratorybach.org)

TERRY BLAIN