ALL STRAVINSKY
Pacific Northwest Ballet stages an alluring all-Stravinsky program: The Firebird (choreographed by retiring PNB co-director Kent Stowell), George Balanchine's neo-classical Apollo, and one of the landmarks of 20th-century music, The Rite of Spring (choreographed by Glen Tetley). An orchestral stampede of careening timbres, melodic efflorescence, jarring blocs of sound, and frenzied rhythmic complexity, The Rite has attracted and upstaged countless choreographers, so I'm interested to see how Tetley sets the piece. Also Fri and Sat Feb 4 and 5, Thurs-Sat Feb 10-12 at 7:30 pm; matinees Sat Feb 5 at 2 pm and Sun Feb 13 at 1 pm. McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St, 441-2424, 7:30 pm, $20-$137.
REGINA CARTER QUINTET
Every music writer has a stock phrase that infects other-wise sound sentences. I hereby renounce the epithet "fleet-fingered" and promise to reserve it for Regina Carter, one of the foremost jazz violinists around. Also Fri Feb 4 and Sat Feb 5. Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave, 441-9729, sets at 7:30 and 9:30 pm, $20.50/$24.50.
BYRON SCHENKMAN
Andrea Schultz (violin) and Michael Finckel (cello) join this pianist in a program of chamber music from the Viennese Classical Era: Mozart's Trio in G, K.564, Beethoven's Sonata in C Minor, op. 30, no. 2 for piano and violin, a Haydn trio, and other goodies. Last year Schenkman delighted me with a passel of Scarlatti sonatas; hear him before some manager spirits him away to New York or London. Town Hall, Eighth Ave and Seneca St, 652-4255, 7:30 pm, $13-$18.
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 4
GREAT MUSIC FOR A GREAT CATHEDRAL
Ah, Fat Tuesday. Back in the 1970s it meant rowdy crowds smoking weed and guzzling beer in Pioneer Square. 'Twas a fine time, even for a shrimpy kid like me. Thanks to the neo-Prohibitionism of MADD and nefarious alcohol laws, boozing it up in broad daylight is now a furtive, forgotten art. Anyway, this annual sound and light concert marks the last weekend before Fat Tuesday with music by Handel, Verdi, Wagner, Bach, Langlais, and Strauss along with scenic designs by Kitty Kavanaugh, scenic artist with Seattle Opera. Also Sat Feb 5, St. James Cathedral, 804 Ninth Ave, 382-4874, 8 pm, $22.
DIRECTIONS IN MUSIC
Borrowing the subtitle of Miles Davis' late 1960s Columbia LPs, this all-star trio--trumpeter Roy Hargrove, legendary session saxophonist Michael Brecker, and keyboardist Herbie Hancock--serve up smart takes on classic tunes by Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius, Stevie Wonder, the late Ray Charles, and Hancock himself. Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St, 292-2787, 8 pm, $25-$45.
LIVING DAYLIGHTS
Hammond B-3 hesiarch Joe Doria of Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet teams up with this aggro-fusion jazz outfit led by saxophonist Jessica Lurie. Nectar, 412 N 36th St, 300-3752, 10 pm, $8/$10.
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9
PAUL ROBERTS
Master class on the music of Debussy and Ravel with the author of Images: The Piano Music of Claude Debussy. Brechemin Auditorium, UW campus, 685-8384, 4:30 pm, free.
