Another rising star

At just 25 years old, Venezuelan-American conductor Ilyich Rivas is hailed as a rising international star. He makes his Minnesota Orchestra debut with violinist Stefan Jackiw for Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. Also on the program are Ginastera's ballet suite "Estancia" and Dvořák's Eighth Symphony. (8 p.m. Fri., 2 p.m. Sun.; Orchestra Hall, Mpls.; $12-$102, 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org)

Queen of a musical era

The Oratorio Society of Minnesota examines the Victorian era, a time of intense musical activity in England. "Victoria: A Life in Music" surveys the monarch's long reign through the prism of its most popular music. That includes works by Handel, Mendelssohn, Wagner, Gounod, Stanford, Sullivan and Elgar, plus traditional Irish and Scottish songs from the era. Linking the narrative is performer Suzanne Koepplinger in the role of Queen Victoria. Bradley Greenwald voices the Prince Consort, a Prime Minister and three of Victoria's private secretaries. (7:30 p.m. Sat., St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Mpls.; 2 p.m. Sun., Hamline United Methodist Church, St. Paul; $20-$40, oratorio.org)

'The Soldier's Tale'

Stravinsky's "The Soldier's Tale" is about a man who trades his violin to the devil for limitless riches. And it inspired some of the composer's pithiest, most acerbic music. A typically stimulating MacPhail Spotlight concert pairs "The Soldier's Tale" with a chamber version of Strauss' "Till Eulenspiegel." (8 p.m. Sat., MacPhail Center for Music, Mpls.; $15-$25, 612-767-5250 or macphail.org)

Seeger family secret

Ruth Crawford Seeger is known as the materfamilias of a great American folk music dynasty. What's less well known is that she was also a classical composer of distinctly modernist tendencies. Chamber Music Society of Minnesota gives Crawford Seeger's Violin Sonata of 1926 a rare outing. Twin Cities native Ariana Kim, a member of the Grammy-nominated Aizuri Quartet, plays the sonata with Ieva Jokubaviciute on piano. Rounding out the program are Dvořák's Piano Quintet and the Minnesota premiere of Lasse Thoresen's "Invocation of Pristine Light." (4 p.m. Sun., Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, St. Paul; $20-$25, 651-450-0527 or chamber musicmn.org)

Art of catharsis

Can music help you grieve? The Brentano String Quartet thinks so. With its "Lamentations" program, the Yale University ensemble-in-residence explores the art of catharsis with short pieces by Purcell, Haydn, Shostakovich, d'India, Carter and Lekeu. Also featured is a complete performance of Bartók's String Quartet No. 2. (4 p.m. Sun., St. Anthony Park United Church of Christ, St. Paul; $21-$31, 651-292-3268 or schubert.org)

TERRY BLAIN