Thursday, November 29

First up, a calendar roundup for the first half of December. If you're in that pre-Christmas mood, indulge! With performances from major venues and organizations across Georgia, this list should keep you busy.

Messiahs

• CSU Choral Union performs Part 1, Sunday the 2nd, 3:30, RiverCenter, Columbus
• Augusta Choral Society's Singalong, Friday the 7th, Sacred Heart Cultural Center, Augusta
• Rome Symphony, Saturday the 8th, 7:30, Rome City Auditorium, Rome
• Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, December 13 and 15, Symphony Hall, Atlanta
• Savannah Sinfonietta's Singalong, Friday the 14th, Wesley UMC, Savannah
  

Nutcrackers

• South Georgia Arts presents the Charleston Ballet and local South Georgia ballet students Sunday, 3:00 and 7:30, Tift County High School Performing Arts Center, Tifton
• Atlanta Ballet, throughout December, times vary, Fox Theatre, Atlanta
• Nutcracker of Middle Georgia, December 5-9, Grand Opera House, Macon
  

Other Christmas Concerts

• Augusta Opera at St. Paul's, Sunday, 3:30 and 6:00, St. Paul's Church, Augusta
• Georgia State University's tenth anniversary Gala Holiday Concert, Saturday at 8:00 and Sunday at 3:00, Rialto Center, Atlanta
• Albany Symphony's annual Peppermint Pops, Tuesday, 7:30, Albany Civic Center
• Columbus Symphony Orchestra's Cowboy Christmas with Riders in the Sky, December 6, 7:30, RiverCenter, Columbus
• Cobb Symphony's holiday pops concert, Saturday, performances in two Cobb County venues

Other Classical Concerts

• Augusta Symphony's Augusta Virtuosi in Columbia County, Saturday, 7:30, Hardin Theatre, Evans
• Pianist Emanuel Ax, Sunday, 3:00, Spivey Hall, Morrow
• Atlanta Symphony with Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and more, Thursday-Saturday, Symphony Hall, Atlanta
• Leo Kottke and the Turtle Island Quartet, Saturday at Atlanta's Ferst Center and Sunday in Athens' UGA Performing Arts Center

(Pant, puff.) Did I miss anyone? Not counting all the schools and churches, I mean, though those ubiquitous events are worthwhile too. Please bring your arts organization or venue to my attention by e-mailing Midday Music at the address in the left column.

On now to the playlist du jour. Here's what we're hearing today. Tomorrow please join Alan Cooke for our weekly requests edition.

11 AM

• Ibert: Divertissement. Cincinnati Pops, Kunzel (Telarc 80294)
• Rosza: North Hungarian Peasant Songs and Dances. Quint, Wolfram (Naxos 8.570190)
• Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Suite No. 2. Minneapolis Sym, Skrowaczewski (Mercury 432 004)

12 N

• Sanz: Canarios. Narciso Yepes (DG 459 613)
  
• Montero: improvisations on Sanz's Canarios and Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. Gabriela Montero (EMI 00234, "Baroque")
  
• Arensky: Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor. Lowenthal, Bor, Rosen (Brilliant Classics box 93423)
  

1 PM

• Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker: Second Tableau. Cincinnati Pops, Kunzel (Telarc 80674)
  
• Haydn: Piano Concerto in F. Emanuel Ax, Franz Liszt Chamber Orch (Sony Legacy 89853)
  
• Bach: Cantata No. 34, "O Ewiges Feuer." Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Gardiner (SDG 121)