The English Concert
The English Concert and director Andrew Manze present a program of Mozart violin music, his 40th Symphony, and C.P.E. Bach's Symphony No. 3. Manze is a wizard on the violin, and a virtuoso of line and improvisation; the concert is likely to be spectacular. Oct. 29, 3 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $30-$52, (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu/presents. (L.H.)

Bronfman, Shaham, and Harrell
Lovers of the piano trio repertoire won't want to miss this great lineup at Cal Performances on Nov. 1: pianist Yefim Bronfman, violinist Gil Shaham, and cellist Lynn Harrell. Exceptional players separately and together, they'll be presenting the Schubert Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, D. 898, Op. 99, and the Tchaikovsky Piano Trio in A Minor, Op. 50. Nov. 1, 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley, $30-$52, (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu/presents. (H.T.)

PBO and Jake Heggie
Philharmonia Baroque will premiere Jake Heggie's To Hell and Back, the group's first-ever commission. Soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian and Broadway singer Patti LuPone join conductor Nicholas McGegan and the players in this tale of Persephone's underworld adventures. Nov. 2, 8 p.m., Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, Palo Alto; Nov. 3, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco; Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 5, 8 p.m., First Congregational Church, Berkeley; $29-$67, (415) 392-4400, www.philharmonia.org. (M.V.C.)

Rigoletto
Verdi's great masterpiece returns in Michael Yeargan's striking, Chirico-esque production. The vivid and moving Paolo Gavanelli shares the title role with Valeri Alexejev, Mary Dunleavy is Rigoletto's besotted daughter Gilda, and Giuseppi Gripali is the Duke of Mantua. Stephen Lord conducts. Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 29, 2 p.m.; War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco; $25-245, (415) 864-3330, www.sfopera.com. (L.H.)

Tristan und Isolde
Thomas Moser and Christine Brewer star as Wagner's death-haunted lovers in David Hockney's primary-colors production. Brewer, with a voice of astonishing warmth, beauty, and power, has the makings of a great Isolde. Kristinn Sigmundsson is King Marke; Jane Irwin and Boaz Daniel debut as the lovers' confidantes Brangaene and Kurwenal. Donald Runnicles conducts; he was impetuously brilliant in the 1998 run of Tristan. October 27, 1 p.m., War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, $25-$245, (415) 864-3330, www.sfopera.com. (L.H.)

The Barber of Seville
Rossini's evergreen comedy returns to the San Francisco Opera in a modern-dress production that features an onstage motorcycle and a giant revolving house. Barber is, among other things, the dramatic predecessor of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and tells the story of how Count Almaviva won his Rosina. (The love between the couple here is what the Countess is so wistful about in Mozart's masterpiece.) Nathan Gunn stars as the clever barber Figaro, John Osborn debuts in the bravura role of Count Almaviva, and Merola alumna Allyson McHardy is back as the charming and strong-minded Rosina. Oct. 31; Nov. 2, 4, 7, 9, 12, 17, 26, and 30, times vary, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, $25-$245, (415) 864-3330, www.sfopera.com (L.H.)

Don Giovanni
Pacific Union and the Presidio Trust are presenting free concerts, starring young local artists, at the Presidio. In this anniversary year, Mozart's masterpiece Don Giovanni will be performed far and wide. But you will have few opportunities to catch it up close and personal, with piano-only accompaniment, as in these two performances. You may get to hear some stars in the making — and keep an eye on the rest of the concert series, too. Nov. 2, 3, 8 p.m., Golden Gate Club, The Presidio, (415) 447-6274, www.presidio.gov (L.H.)

Office of the Dead
The choral group San Francisco Renaissance Voices celebrates Halloween with a pair of Requiem Masses by Johannes Ockeghem and Pierre de la Rue. The concert is an installation in Seventh Avenue Performances' Polyphonic Project. Oct. 28, Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church, San Francisco; Oct. 29, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Belvedere; 7:30 p.m., $12-$15, (415) 664-2543, www.sfrv.org. (L.H.)

Volti
Volti, the adventurous new-music chorus, sings a concert of music from Denmark, Finland, and Estonia. It should be a fascinating program, given the living classical and choral music cultures of those northern countries. The composers include Arvo Pärt and Einojuhani Rautavaara, and the less-known Pekka Kostianen, Olli Kortekangas, Veljo Tormis, and Per Nørgård. Nov. 4, 8 p.m., St. Gregory of Nyssa, San Francisco; Nov. 5, 4 p.m., St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Berkeley; Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m., Acalanes High School, Lafayette, $8-20, (415) 824-7393, www.voltisf.org (L.H.)

Midori Meets Britten and Petrassi
Late October at the Symphony features the wonderful violinist Midori with conductor Roberto Abbado in Britten's Violin Concerto, plus Petrassi's Concerto for Orchestra No. 2. (Petrassi wrote orchestral concertos rather than symphonies — eight of them.) Oct. 25, 27-28, 8 p.m.; Oct. 26, 29, 2 p.m.; Davies Hall, San Francisco, (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org. (H.T.)

MTT, Mackey, Mahler . . . and Schoenberg
There's an MTT spectacular opening on November 2: Steven Mackey's Lost and Found, Schoenberg's Cabaret Songs (from 1901 — so fear not, they're in tonal Viennese-pops style), and Mahler's Fourth Symphony. Soprano Measha Brueggergosman is soloist for the Schoenberg and Mahler. Nov. 2-4, 8 p.m.; Nov. 5, 2 p.m.; Davies Hall, San Francisco (Nov. 5 performance at Flint Hall in Cupertino), $25-$114, (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org. (H.T.)

Composers Inc.
Often hardly dry on the paper, the new works featured on Composers Inc. concerts are not only fresh, but they're played by some of the finest musicians around. Be ready for some razzamatazz with Anthony Joseph Lanman's Il Dolce Stile Nuovo for strings and piano and Michael Torke's July for saxophone quartet. Also on the program is music by Joan Tower, Allen Shearer, and Jeffrey Miller. Oct. 24, 8 p.m., Green Room, War Memorial Veterans Building, San Francisco, (415) 512-0641, www.composersinc.org. (M.V.C.)

Imani Winds Family Matinee
I'm a fan of San Francisco Performances' Family Matinees (see Jan. 14 review), and the first of the season promised to be a winner, with the Grammy-nominated Imani Winds quintet. Jeff Rosenfeld called their last S.F. performance "genre-bending." Oct. 28, 11 a.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $8-$15, (415) 392-2545, www.performances.org. (M.B.)

Left Coast Chamber Ensemble
It's a sad fact that plenty of musical organizations will play a new work in one season, then do nothing more to help that work become part of the standard repertory. The Left Coast Chamber Ensemble does things differently— this year, its first concert revives two works it commissioned. John Schott’s Among of green stiff old bright branch and Martin Rokeach’s Sleepless Night are on the program, with the world premiere of Mark Winges’ San Francisco Stopover. They'll also play Eric Zivian’s Suite for Solo Cello with Baroque Bow and Charles Loeffler's Two Rhapsodies. Oct. 26, 8 p.m., 142 Throckmorton Theater, Mill Valley; Oct. 30, 8 p.m., Green Room, 401 Van Ness, San Francisco, $15-$20, (415) 642-8054, www.chambermusicpartn.org. (L.H.)

An Evening of Improvised Music
The Berkeley Hillside Club continues its innovative concert series by bringing together Japanese-born percussionist Tatusya Nakatani; koto player Shoko Hikage; and cellist, vocalist, and composer Theresa Wong for an evening of improvised music. The three have never played together before, but all keep improvisation at the center of their musical arts. It should be an exciting and stylistically varied evening. Oct. 30, 8 p.m., Berkeley Hillside Club, $10-$15, (510) 845-1350, www.hillsideclub.org. (L.H.)

Aki Takahashi in Santa Cruz
For those who've not ventured over the hill since the opening of the Music Center Recital Hall at UC Santa Cruz and the renovation of Sunset Center in Carmel, a couple of promising events deserve attention. The first is on Nov. 3, when cutting-edge pianist Aki Takahashi presents her classical credentials in a Schubert sonata, then tears into a feast of newer fare by Peter Garland, Hi Kyung Kim, Andrew Imbrie, Morton Feldman, and arrangements from the "Hyper Beatles Collection." The intimate (and adjustable) Recital Hall sports great acoustics. Nov. 3, 8 p.m., Recital Hall, UC Santa Cruz, $14-$40, (831) 459-2159, www.artslectures.ucsc.edu. (S.M.)