Much of Kaija Saariaho’s music, acoustic, electronic, or both, has a cool, dreamy shimmer—an ethereally subtle coloristic sense underpinned by strength and confidence of utterance. Feel free to hear in her style the twilights and landscapes of her native Finland. Tonight, her compatriot, pianist Antii Siirala, will play her Ballade (written in 2005 for Emanuel Ax), alongside a few miniatures by elder statesman Sibelius; Beethoven’s Piano Sonata op. 109 (comprising “the most beautiful theme and variations ever written,” as one professor of mine liked to call it); and the string of exquisitely-cut gems known as Chopin’s op.28 Preludes.

Tue., Dec. 11, 8 p.m., 2007