Berlioz wrote The Damnation of Faust in 1846 as a concert opera. The Met's new production is a multi-media extravaganza marked by striking imagery.

Novel programming adds extra spice to a recital that features clarinetist Ricardo Morales and two other local stars.

Lidia Kaminska's accordion made a big hit with a big crowd. But one audience member would have been happier if the program had included more collaboration with other instruments.

Daniel Barenboim's all-Liszt recital of Italian-themed works combined scholarship, musicianship and technical brilliance in equal measure to make a forceful case for the problematic Hungarian master. I still can't tell you how Barenboim does it, but his performance was astonishing, and, for me, revelatory.

Concert pianists are expected to perform from memory. That was no problem for me until my psyche was permanently scarred in an auto accident. But over many years, as I was forced to cope with things far more crucial than missing a passage in a piece of music, I learned to trust my inner resources.

The Opera Company of Philadelphia takes few risks in its entertaining staging of The Italian Girl in Algiers, even though Rossini’s opera offers a potentially controversial ridiculing of Islam.

The Italian Girl in Algiers. Opera by Gioachino Rossini; libretto by Angelo Anelli; directed by Stefano Vizioli. Through November 23, 2008 at Academy of Music, Broad and Locust St. (215) 732-8400 or .www.operaphilly.com.

Orchestra 2001 looks at four pieces, each built around a distinctive framework, including two written by the durable Elliot Carter in his 90s.

Orchestra 2001: Piston, Divertimento for Nine Instruments; Carter, Asko Concerto; Carter, Dialogues (Emmanuel Arciuli, piano); Copland, Appalachian Spring. James Freeman, conductor. November 15, 2008 at Independence Seaport Museum. (610) 544-6610 or www.orchestra2001.org.

To loyal BSR readers waiting anxiously to find out how those augmented sixths in Mozart’s Jupiter and Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony work out: It's all my computer's fault.

If they have the right vision, lesser known regional conductors can outperform stars as lustrous as Riccardo Muti. Both Karl Middleman and Mischa Santora have lately demonstrated visions of their own.

Philadelphia Classical Symphony: Saint-George, Symphonie Concertante in G Major for Two Violins and String Orchestra; Mozart, Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra in E Flat Major. Hirono Oka, violin; C.J. Chang, violin and viola; Karl Middleman, conductor. October 31, 2008 at First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. (215) 228-2224 or www.classicalsymphony.org.

Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia: Rossini, Overture to L’Italiana in Algieri; Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major. Shai Wosner, piano. Haydn, Symphony No. 86 in D Major. Mischa Santora, conductor. November 9, 2008. At Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce. (215) 545-5451 or www.chamberorchestra.org.

Lyric Fest offered children an international song and dance extravaganza with the quality and sophistication that kids should be exposed to when they make their first acquaintance with the arts.

Lyric Fest: “A World of Friends.” Songs by Mozart, Ravel, Poulenc, Brahms, Barber, Shostakovich, et al. Suzanne DuPlantis, Jennifer Hsiung, mezzos; Cara Latham, Randi J. Marrazzo, Maggie Moliterno, sopranos; Mark Moliterno, baritone; Richard Troxell, tenor. Motet Choir of the Pennsylvania Girlchoir, Mark A. Anderson, conductor; Caroline Foley and the Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble; Lisa Lovelace and Her Dancing Friends; Jake Miller and Wilder Troxell, actors. November 9, 2008 at Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Ave. (215) 438-1702 or www.lyricfest.org.