Critic's picks - classical music

Boston Symphony Orchestra - For Wednesday's opening night program, James Levine will lead Glinka's "Ruslan and Ludmila" overture, Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," and the letter scene from Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" with the young Latvian soprano Maija Kovalevska. On Friday and Saturday, the BSO switches gears for performances of Brahms's "German Requiem," together with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Symphony Hall, 617-266-1200 or www.bso.org.

New England Conservatory - Laurence Lesser and HaeSun Paik perform all of Beethoven's music for cello and piano across two programs today at 3 and 8 p.m. On Thursday at 8 p.m., pianist Russell Sherman returns to Liszt's "Transcendental Etudes," fiercely difficult music that helped him first establish his reputation as a virtuoso. All three programs are free. At Jordan Hall, 617-585-1100 or www.newenglandconservatory.edu.

- Jeremy Eichler