Classical music picks

A semi-happy return. Yannick Nézet-Séguin's recordings for the London Philharmonic's label have had their ups and downs, and this new one - Saint-Saens' Symphony No. 3 and Poulenc's Organ Concerto - is somewhere in between. It has all his trademark vigor, concentration, and smarts (plus an imposing organist in James O'Donnell) but a somewhat dry acoustic. If you have Nézet-Séguin's 2005 Atma-label Saint-Saens recording with his Orchestre Metropolitain du Montreal, don't give it away. That one benefits from the normally over-resonant Oratoire Saint-Joseph and has interesting filler by Alexandre Guilmant, Louis Vierne, and Charles-Marie Widor.

Opening doors. Your philanthropic impulses warmed by the time of year, you might be mulling a way to act on them. #GivingTuesday has gathered steam in recent years and serves as a nice reminder to actually do more than think about it. The nationwide event is Dec. 2 this year, and if you're still poking around for a worthy local charity, consider STAMP - Students at Museums in Philly - which provides free access for area teens to 15 museums such as the Barnes, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Donors can pledge at

» READ MORE: www.razoo.com/story/Stamp

. - Peter Dobrin

Cold outside. Some of Christoph Eschenbach's best moments in Philadelphia were with baritone Matthias Goerne. Now, with Eschenbach on piano, the two are heard in a new recording of Schubert's bleak masterpiece song cycle Winterreise on Harmonia Mundi - a piece that Goerne was born to sing, with his dark, Germanic sensibility. And it's dark indeed, especially since the more focused voice of his younger years has taken on a graininess that suits the piece's emotional range, from rage to resignation, evoking the inner world of Schubert's rejected protagonist and his hallucinatory end in a frozen landscape. - D.P.S.

Lift up your voice. The spirit of the season for many lives in the 'hood - as in the brotherhood and sisterhood you feel singing alongside others. Continuing its series of play-ins for amateurs, the Philadelphia Orchestra holds a holiday sing-in of traditional tunes and carols at Grace Baptist Church of Germantown Dec. 15 from 6 to 7 p.m. The event is free, but registration, which is required at philorch.org/sing, is likely to fill up quickly. - P.D.