Classical Notes

Play on! It's starting to seem like spring - even if we only know this because right around the corner are baseball and . . . classical music? The Philadelphia Orchestra's volunteers and musicians are holding their Perfect Harmony fund-raiser at the Diamond Club at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies. Tickets are pricey - starting at $250 - but where else could you bid on such auction items as a cocktail party serenaded by violinist David Kim and pianist Davyd Booth, or a performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra Percussion Group at a school of your choice? Trading mouthpiece and bow for the auction gavel are principal hornist Jennifer Montone and assistant principal bass player Joseph Conyers. The April 17 live and silent auction includes cocktails, dinner and music. It might not be as atmospheric as Delius's On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, but it does benefit the orchestra's finances. www.philorch.org, 215-893-3124.

- Peter Dobrin

Hamelin with depth. Though Marc-André Hamelin made his name on forgotten, super-virtuosic works, his repertoire has been growing more mainstream, as evidenced by his two latest Hyperion-label discs, Mozart Piano Sonatas and Shostakovich's Piano Quintet Op. 57. If you extrapolate between the Shostakovich's introspection and Mozart's classicism, you'd have the centerpiece of his 8 p.m. Tuesday recital at the Kimmel Center: Schubert's great Piano Sonata in B-flat. One can expect to hear Schubert's full harmonic spectrum - with emotional dignity. Information: 215-569-8080 or www.pcmsconcerts.org.  

- David Patrick Stearns

Play on! It's starting to seem like spring - even if we only know this because right around the corner are baseball and . . . classical music? The Philadelphia Orchestra's volunteers and musicians are holding their Perfect Harmony fund-raiser at the Diamond Club at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies. Tickets are pricey - starting at $250 - but where else could you bid on auction items like a cocktail party serenaded by violinist David Kim and pianist Davyd Booth, or a performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra Percussion Group at a school of your choice? Trading mouthpiece and bow for the auction gavel are principal hornist Jennifer Montone and assistant principal bass player Joseph Conyers. The April 17 live and silent auction includes cocktails, dinner, and music. It might not be as atmospheric as Delius' On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, but it does benefit the orchestra's finances. www.philorch.org, 215-893-3124.

- Peter Dobrin

Hamelin with depth. Though Marc-André Hamelin made his name on forgotten, supervirtuosic works, his repertoire has been growing more mainstream, as evidenced by his two latest Hyperion-label discs, Mozart Piano Sonatas and Shostakovich's Piano Quintet Op. 57. If you extrapolate between Shostakovich's introspection and Mozart's classicism, you'd have the centerpiece of his 8 p.m. Tuesday recital at the Kimmel Center: Schubert's great Piano Sonata in B-flat. One can expect to hear Schubert's full harmonic spectrum - with emotional dignity. Information: 215-569-8080 or www.pcmsconcerts.org.

- David Patrick Stearns

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