Classical picks: Pollini and Abbado, pianist Drew Petersen, and Piffaro

Mapping a Musical Partnership. Pianist Maurizio Pollini and conductor Claudio Abbado began performing together in the 1960s, an association that lasted five decades. DG has packaged eight discs' worth of music taken from recordings released between the 1970s and late '90s - all five Beethoven concertos, the two of Brahms, Schumann, plus works of Bartók, Schoenberg, and Luigi Nono. What's captured in Pollini & Abbado: The Complete Deutsche Grammophon Recordings is variable. The Schumann concerto might have more revealing interpreters than Pollini. But his Beethoven - the balance of intellect and emotion, control and impetuousness - is something special.

Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 is represented twice, and the great gem in this collection is an atmospheric 1976 take on the work with the Vienna Philharmonic. The sound of the Musikverein and charm of analogue sound become players as important as the musicians themselves. Can someone remind me why digital sound was considered an advance? Warmth and a little mystery are still more potent in music than the glare of digital's hyper-reality. - Peter Dobrin

The Emperor arrives. The Leeds International Piano Competition has a history of picking winners who are in for the long run. Although Drew Petersen placed fourth last year, his performances were lauded by critics as being among the best. Now, Petersen is playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 ("Emperor") with Symphony in C at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Rutgers University Gordon Theater in Camden. Music director Stilian Kirov also conducts Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica"). Information: 856-240-1503 or symphonyinc.org - David Patrick Stearns

Mime alert. Piffaro, the Philadelphia Renaissance Band, rarely goes long without some sort of collaboration in its regular concerts, and in this weekend's trio of concerts, it brings back members of Washington's Happenstance Theatre. The theme is that of animals, real and otherwise, though how that's going to be portrayed in the highly physical theatrics of Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell is anybody's guess. Performances are Friday at the Trinity Center for Urban Life, Saturday at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, and Sunday at the Episcopal Church of SS. Andrew and Matthew in Wilmington. Information: 215-235-8469, www.piffaro.org - D.P.S.