Top 10 classical music events in the Twin Cities in 2025

While I don’t subscribe to the belief that classical music should be embraced as a kind of aural sedative for harried hearts and minds, concert halls do provide a place to turn off your phone and gather with others to be inspired by marvelous musicians. And that might prove especially valuable now.

Here are the 2025 performances that inspired me the most.

1. Minnesota Orchestra’s “Turandot,” May 1. Music director Thomas Søndergård’s first foray into operatic repertoire with the orchestra was a thrilling concert performance of Giacomo Puccini’s final work. With star soprano Christine Goerke as the vengeful princess who softens to Limmie Pulliam’s tender tenor arias, as well as excellent contributions from soprano Mané Galoyan and the Minnesota Chorale, it was electrifying.

2. Dmitry Sinkovsky and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, April 10. As the orchestra said farewell to south Minneapolis’ Temple Israel after 250 concerts since 1978, Sinkovsky showed that he might be the most uniquely talented musician in the classical sphere. He almost set fire to his fiddle on a Vivaldi concerto, charismatically conducted Mozart’s 40th symphony and wowed the audience by bringing a lovely countertenor voice to a song by John Dowland.

3. Joshua Bell at the Minnesota Beethoven Festival, June 29. The superstar violinist loves Winona, as evidenced by his frequent visits to this festival. Pianist Peter Dugan (and Beethoven, Brahms and Gabriel Fauré) helped Bell demonstrate that he might be at the peak of his powers, his interpretations deeper and more complex and his technical skills as jaw-dropping as ever.

4. Minnesota Orchestra with soprano Julia Bullock, March 7. Søndergård showed that he’s not only a master of the massive — as evidenced by an intense and expertly executed interpretation of Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony — but also of nuanced and breathtakingly expressive works for voice and orchestra, in this case Bullock’s sublimely sung song cycle by Benjamin Britten, “Les Illuminations.”

5. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet plays Ravel, Oct. 28. Over the course of two Schubert Club recitals, the French pianist performed the complete solo piano works of his countryman, Maurice Ravel, employing extraordinary grace and a subtle touch to shine a bright and insightful light upon its beauty and turbulence.

7. Leif Ove Andsnes, March 28. In addition to music by his fellow Norwegians, Edvard Grieg and Geirr Tveitt, the pianist made Frédéric Chopin’s complete “24 Preludes” a fascinating odyssey, an expertly articulated compendium of myriad emotions and moods delivered with technical precision and heartfelt expressiveness.

8. Abel Selaocoe and the SPCO, Feb. 14. Whenever this South African cellist and SPCO artistic partner comes to town, the performances are surprising, spontaneous, exhilarating and brimming with marvelous musicianship. He’s the most exciting thing to happen on the Twin Cities classical music scene in several years.

9. Joyce DiDonato and the Minnesota Orchestra, Sept. 18. The masterful mezzo helped open the season with Hector Berlioz’s song cycle, “Les nuits d’été,” with Søndergård and the orchestra’s soft beds of sound admirably simpatico with her captivatingly quiet approach, full of wistful evocations of grief and exhilarating carpe diems.

10. Richard Goode and the SPCO, Oct. 17. This legendary American pianist launched his tenure as an SPCO artistic partner with two Mozart concertos, his delicate touch, fleet fingers, puckish playfulness and ample interpretive wisdom proving an ideal match for this magnificent Mozart orchestra.