A new look for 'Barber of Seville'? The week's best classical concerts

Of the 39 operas Rossini wrote before retiring at 37, "The Barber of Seville" is still easily the most popular. Billed as a comedy, its tale of an elderly man confining a younger woman he wants to marry seems dubious in the MeToo era, but renowned director Francesca Zambello brings a woman's perspective to Minnesota Opera's new staging, with mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack in the central role of the feisty Rosina. Tenor Alek Shrader plays the dashing young Count Almaviva, and Rodion Pogossov is the barber who fixes everything eventually. (7:30 p.m. Sat. & Nov. 12, 14 & 16; 2 p.m. Sun. & Nov. 17. Ordway Center for Performing Arts, St. Paul. $25-$200, 612-333-6669 or mnopera.org)

French musician Nathalie Stutzmann built her reputation as an outstanding contralto singer. But in recent years she has turned increasingly to conducting, earning accolades from British conductor Simon Rattle among others. Her Minnesota Orchestra program this week plumbs the 19th-century romantic repertoire, with the intensely yearning Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner's opera "Tristan und Isolde" coupled with Brahms' glowing Second Symphony. Minnesota Orchestra concertmaster Erin Keefe also features in Dvořák's Romance for Violin, with a clutch of Brahms' lively Hungarian Dances for good measure. (11 a.m. Thu., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Orchestra Hall, Mpls. $12-$125, 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org)

Twin Cities composer David Evan Thomas' cello and piano cycle "From the Land of Song" is the centerpiece of the Schubert Club's latest Courtroom Concert. Soprano Maria Jette sings a selection of songs about the moon, a theme continued in Blaž Pucihar's "Full Moon Trio" for flute, cello and piano. (Noon Thu., Courtroom 317, Landmark Center, St. Paul. Free, schubert.org)

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra muscles up for Beethoven's 250th birthday celebrations next year by wheeling out its entire string section for the Third Razumovsky String Quartet. The winds play Mozart's Serenade in E flat in a program that also features principal flute Julia Bogorad-Kogan in Mozart's Andante in C. (7:30 p.m. Thu., Temple Israel, Mpls.; 11 a.m. Fri. & 8 p.m. Sat., Ordway Concert Hall, St. Paul; also Nov. 12-17 at various locations. $11-$50, 651-291-1144 or thespco.org)

LOFTrecital continues its exploration of the road less traveled in "Krik Krak: Lamentations of the Diaspora," a recital in which Haitian folk songs and storytelling mingle with Cuban and Brazilian art music. Classical crossover group Duo1717, composed of baritone Jean Bernard Cerin and pianist Veena K. Kulkarni, make their LOFTrecital debut. (7 p.m. Sat., Good Arts Collective, Mpls.; $5-$40, facebook.com/LOFTrecital)

TERRY BLAIN