It's cold outside, but these tickets are hot

As our weather worsens, our music improves -- or so it seems to this non-native, seasonally maladjusted Minnesotan, who looks hungrily to concerts to cushion him against the cold. Call it compensation or consolation: The musical bounty of the Twin Cities in the post-caroling months may be the best legal antidote to that skin-damaging, soul-ravaging ordeal politely known as "winter."

What palliatives await us in the first quarter of 2009? This year's musical offerings will be inflected by an abundance of composer anniversaries. Notable among the birthday boys are Henry Purcell (350) and Felix Mendelssohn (200). And then there's Leonard Bernstein, whose 90th, celebrated last year, is the cue for the Minnesota Orchestra's slightly belated Bernstein Festival, Jan. 15-25.

Composers being mortal, there are also deaths to commemorate, including those of Handel (250 years ago), Haydn (200), Isaac Albéniz (100) and a trio of 20th-century greats: Ernest Bloch, Bohuslav Martinu and Heitor Villa-Lobos, all of whom expired in 1959. Even in this anniversary year, these composers aren't as conspicuous in concert programs as they deserve to be. But that needn't cramp you. Simply load up your iPod or CD changer, pour a glass or two, and let the festivities roll.

Voices

The year gets off to a stellar start this Tuesday with a much-awaited Schubert Club recital (originally scheduled for 2005) by soprano Deborah Voigt, one of the vocal titans of our day. Along with the obligatory Strauss and Verdi, her program (with pianist Brian Zeger) embraces works by three Americans: Bernstein, Amy Beach, and the young Ben Moore (Jan. 6).

If your taste runs to voices en masse, you have a busy stretch ahead. Begin with Bernstein's long-neglected "Mass," with the Minnesota Chorale, Minnesota Boychoir and Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänskä (Jan. 22 and 23). Continue to Bobby McFerrin's first encounter with the singers of Cantus (Jan. 30). Then it's on to Haydn's "The Creation," with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra led by Nicholas McGegan and the SPCO Anniversary Chorale prepared by choral legend Dale Warland (Feb. 19-21).

Next come the Rose Ensemble's joint appearances with London's Voces8, featuring music by William Byrd (Feb. 27-March 1). Leave room for VocalEssence's latest extravaganza, devoted to choral phenomenon Eric Whitacre, with multiple choirs directed by the composer and Philip Brunelle (March 22). And don't forget that vocal hotbed, the Minnesota Opera, which within a single month presents Gounod's "Faust," a 19th-century survivor (Jan. 24, 27, 29, 31 and Feb. 1), and Jonathan Dove's "The Adventures of Pinocchio," a 21st-century "family opera" (Feb. 28, March 3, 5, 7 and 8).

Here, too, the pickings are generous. Of the 20 concerts in the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's International Chamber Orchestra Festival, I'm most eager for a Tippett-Vaughan Williams-Bartok program with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the SPCO (Jan. 9 and 10), assorted British composers with the London Sinfonietta (Jan. 15) and an evening of Handel, Haydn and others with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in Stillwater (Jan. 29). Post-festival standouts include two programs in the Engine 408 series: Schoenberg's still-radical "Pierrot Lunaire," led by Mark Russell Smith (Feb. 5 and 7), and an evening of "Young Americans," curated by Scott Yoo (March 19 and 21).

The Minnesota Orchestra and Vänskä claim the spotlight in February with three enticing programs in quick succession. The first is sweetened by the world premiere of Christopher Rouse's Oboe Concerto, written for Basil Reeve, the orchestra's eloquent principal (Feb. 5-8). The second offers two great symphonies from the European northland: Carl Nielsen's Fifth and Jean Sibelius' Second (Feb. 12-14). The third, featuring violinist Joshua Bell in Samuel Barber's concerto, previews the orchestra's European tour program (Feb. 18 and 19).

Haydn is on the bill when the Lyra Baroque Orchestra plays with Dutch flutist Wilbert Hazelzet (Feb. 28). And if your wallet has taken a beating, or even if it hasn't, hasten to free concerts by the Minnesota Sinfonia with pianist Lydia Artymiw (Feb. 13 and 14) and illustrious saxophonist Eugene Rousseau (March 13 and 14), the Bloomington Symphony (Feb. 15), the Minneapolis Civic Orchestra (Feb. 22) and the Metropolitan Symphony (March 29).

Chamber groups and pianists

Don't underestimate the warming power of small forces. The Music in the Park Series presents the veteran Dorian Wind Quintet in a characteristically adventurous program (Jan. 11), as well as the Chiara String Quartet in music that includes the chilly-sounding "Icefield Sonnets" by Pierre Jalbert (March 22). The Frederic Chopin Society showcases Italy's Roberto Plano (Feb. 8) and China's Yuja Wang (March 15). The Chamber Music Society of Minnesota promises a work with narrator, featuring actor Lou Bellamy (Feb. 15). And the Musical Offering observes the Mendelssohn bicentenary with a performance of his A-minor String Quartet (March 29).