SEATTLE SYMPHONY
For the Mainly Mozart series, pianist Benedetto Lupo joins the SSO for Piano Concerto No. 24. Also on the program: Symphonies No. 33 and 39 along with the overture to Cosi fan tutte. Also Fri Jan 16 at 8 pm. Benaroya Hall, Third Ave and Union St, 215-4747, 7:30 pm, $16-$60.
FRIDAY JANUARY 16
VLATKOVICH/KNODLE DUO
Michael Vlatkovich (trombone) and Jim Knodle (trumpet) range from the straight-ahead to the ardently avant. Let's hope this fun duo offers up its "schmedley" from West Side Story. Polestar Music Gallery, 1412 18th Ave at E Union St, 329-4224, 8 pm, $6.
SATURDAY JANUARY 17
PHILIP GLASS
Glass, along with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Steve Reich, is one of the Fab Four of minimalism. Like his four confreres, Glass' music entails the gradual unfolding of a minimal set of musical materials, like two notes or a single rhythm layered into hypnotic oblivion. While I run hot and cold on Glass' operas and symphonies, I feel his real strengths reside at the keyboard, especially in early works like Two Pages and in recent solo piano pieces. In this rare Northwest appearance, Glass plays his Etudes and other works for solo piano. Western Washington University PAC Concert Hall, Bellingham, 360-650-6146, 7:30 pm, $6-$22.
SUNDAY JANUARY 18
ORCHESTRA SEATTLE
This group goes for baroque and performs Handel's Concerto Grosso in D Major, op. 6 no. 5, and a Bach cantata, Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42. Also on the program: Stravinsky's semi-baroque-flavored Danses concertantes. Back in 1944, Broadway honchos wired Stravinsky that his Danses concertantes were "a great success" and would be a greater success if he'd allow another composer to touch up the orchestration. Stravinsky, wise with words and one of the 20th century's greatest orchestrators, knew showbiz bullshit when he heard it. He wired back, "Satisfied with great success." Town Hall, Eighth Ave and Seneca St, 682-5208, 3 pm, $18/$14.
PROSPETTIVA PLURAL X
This concert assembles three bassists, Damon Smith, Paul Rucker, and Jeff Johnson, for three solo sets. Jazz stalwart Johnson has accompanied many jazz greats including Philly Joe Jones, Charlie Rouse, Barney Kessel, and Chet Baker. Damon Smith harbors an abiding interest in free improvisation and "expanding the possibilities of the double bass," while bassist/cellist Paul Rucker straddles the worlds of out- and straight-ahead jazz. His CD with saxophonist Hans Teuber, Oil (Jackson Street), simmers with attractively spare and moody duets. CoCA, 1420 11th Ave, 728-1980, 4 pm, $8 suggested donation.
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 21
GLEB KARPUSHKIN
Dubbed "the poet of the orchestra" by some now-forgotten music writer, the French horn is not often heard in a chamber-music setting, which is why this recital is most welcome. Russian hornist Gleb Karpushkin performs works by Beethoven, Liadov, Prokofiev, and several lollipops by Rachmaninoff. Brechemin Auditorium, UW campus, 685-8384, 7:30 pm, free.
