Opera and Classical Music Listings for Jan. 17-23 ★ "Agrippina" (Saturday and Sunday) When Handel's slashing satire of Roman politics had its premiere in Venice during the 1709-10 carnival season, it made his international reputation. It is still rightly beloved for its assured libretto and gorgeous music. Operamission, a young company with varied activities but something of a specialty in Handel, brings it to the library of the Fabbri Mansion on the Upper East Side. Jennifer Peterson, the company's founder and director, conducts. At 3 p.m., Fabbri Mansion, 7 East 95th Street, Manhattan, operamission.org; $60 and $80, $40 for students. "La Bohème" (Saturday and Wednesday) Franco Zeffirelli's bustling, colorful production of this Puccini opera, introduced in 1981, is so popular that the Metropolitan Opera has not always taken care to cast it with the best singers. So it is good news that this revival has such a winning cast, headed by the lovely, plush-voiced soprano Maija Kovalevska as Mimi and the ardent, youthful tenor Joseph Calleja as Rodolfo. The robust baritone Alexey Markov makes a hearty and impulsive Marcello, and the bright soprano Irina Lungu is a vivacious Musetta. Stefano Ranzani conducts a sensitive and textured performance. Through April 18. Saturday at 8:30 p.m., Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org; $27 to $445. "El Cimarrón" (Friday) The baritone Eric McKeever stars as the fugitive slave of the title in Hans Werner Henze's opera, based on a Cuban man's autobiographical account. Presented by the Center for Contemporary Opera, this production is led by music director Sara Jobin. Eugenia Arsenis directs. At 7:30 p.m., Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400, symphonyspace.org; $35. ★ "L'Elisir d'Amore" (Friday and Tuesday) As of press time, Anna Netrebko, who sang Adina in the premiere of the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Donizetti's comic classic last season, was scheduled to rejoin the revival for these performances. She dropped out of the first two evenings because of illness. Her colleagues include the warm, subtle tenor Ramón Vargas as Nemorino, the rich-voiced bass Erwin Schrott as an eccentric Dulcamara and the underpowered baritone Nicola Alaimo as Belcore in Bartlett Sher's dully obvious production. Maurizio Benini conducts with pep. Friday at 8 p.m., Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org; $27 to $445. "Die Fledermaus" (Saturday) The Metropolitan Opera's new production takes the fizz out of Johann Strauss Jr."s sparkling soufflé of an operetta. Saturday at 1 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org; $40 to $460. (Friday through Sunday) Billed as a "minimalistic and conceptual work for 10 singing cashiers, supermarket sounds and piano," this opera by the Lithuanian team of the composer Lina Lapelyte, the librettist Vaiva Grainyte and the director Rugile Bardziukaite, is set in the gleaming, repetitive world of a shopping center. It is being performed as part of the new-opera festival Prototype, which runs through Sunday. Friday and Saturday at 8:30 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m., Here, 145 Avenue of the Americas, at Dominick Street, South Village, (212) 352-3101, prototypefestival.org; $25. (da Fonseca-Wollheim) ★ "Madama Butterfly" (Monday and next Friday) This revival of the Metropolitan Opera's potent, gorgeously colored production of Puccini's masterwork features the Met debut of the South African soprano Amanda Echalaz as the betrayed Cio-Cio-San. The youthful cast features another debutant, the baritone Scott Hendricks, as Sharpless, as well as the talented tenor Bryan Hymel as the callous Pinkerton and the mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong as the loyal Suzuki. "The Rivals" (Saturday and Sunday) The small Bronx Opera offers this 2002 comic opera with a lyrical score and libretto by Kirke Mechem. The plot follows a British naval captain who has invented a fictitious alter ego (a poor opera composer) in order to seduce a bohemian-minded American heiress. Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Kaye Playhouse, Hunter College, 68th Street, between Lexington and Park Avenues, (212) 772-4448, kayeplayhouse.hunter.cuny.edu; $25 to $40, $20 to $35 for students. "Rusalka" (Thursday) Dvorak was inspired to write this enchanting 1901 opera based on a fairy tale about a water nymph who falls for a prince and persuades a forest witch to turn her into a mortal. Renée Fleming, who has said that Rusalka is perhaps her favorite role, sang it beautifully when the Met last presented Otto Schenk's 1993 production in 2008. She returns to the title role for this revival. The exciting conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin will be in the pit. An enticing cast includes the mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick as the forest witch and the tenor Piotr Beczala as the prince. ★ "Thumbprint" (Friday and Saturday) In 2002, Mukhtar Mai was gang-raped in 2002 on the orders of a village council but she defied convention and successfully brought her attackers to justice, becoming a symbol of hope for the oppressed. Set to a libretto by Susan Yankowitz and directed by Rachel Dickstein, the piece combines Hindustani and Western music composed by Kamala Sankaram. At 7 p.m., Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue, enter on 25th Street, (212) 647-0202, prototypefestival.org; $25. (da Fonseca-Wollheim) ★ Avi Avital (Friday) This gifted young Israeli mandolinist offers an alluring program of solo and ensemble works, including transcriptions of Bach's Partita No. 2 in D Minor for solo violin and de Falla's "Siete Canciones Populares Españolas." The lineup also includes Yasuo Kuwahara's "Improvised Poem" and Mr. Avital's "Kedma." He will be joined by the Enso String Quartet for the New York premiere of David Bruce's "Cymbeline" for mandolin and string quartet. At 7:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; limited availability. ★ Jonathan Biss (Friday) This refined and probing young American pianist presents a substantive, well-conceived recital program. After opening with Brahms's late Piano Pieces (Op. 119), Mr. Biss turns to eight selections from the Hungarian modernist master Gyorgy Kurtag's inventive collection of short works titled "Jatekok" ("Games"). He also offers works by Chopin and two Beethoven sonatas (No. 27 in E minor and the popular "Waldstein"). At 8 p.m., Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $15.50 to $92. Simone Dinnerstein (Thursday) This pianist, who has made Bach a calling card, offers her Two-Part Inventions for keyboard (BWV 772-786). The program also includes Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor (Op. 111), Crumb's "Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik" ("Ruminations on "Round Midnight" by Thelonious Monk) and the New York premiere of Nico Muhly's "You Can't Get There From Here." At 8 p.m., Miller Theater, Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799, millertheatre.com; $35 and $40. Hilliard Ensemble (Wednesday) As part of its farewell tour, this a cappella vocal ensemble brings its signature sound and meditative vibe to the Temple of Dendur with a program linking ancient and contemporary spiritual music from across Europe, including works by Arvo Pärt, a composer with whom the Hilliard Ensemble has collaborated for decades. At 7 p.m., Gallery 131, Temple of Dendur, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 570-3949, metmuseum.org/tickets; $65. (da Fonseca-Wollheim) Juilliard ChamberFest (Friday and Saturday) The results of intensive coaching sessions during the students" winter break are showcased in an extensive lineup of concerts. The series concludes this weekend with, on Friday, music by Ravel, Schoenberg and Charles Wuorinen, and, on Saturday, music by Dvorak, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Enescu. Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m., Paul Hall, Juilliard School, Lincoln Center, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza; Saturday at 8 p.m., Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Lincoln Center, 155 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu/chamberfest2014; free. London Haydn Quartet (Tuesday) If Haydn is the father of the string quartet repertory, he is also the lifeblood of this young British quartet, which plays on gut strings with classical-era bows. Here they perform Haydn's Quartet in B flat (Op. 50, No. 1) alongside an early Beethoven quartet and Mozart's clarinet Quintet in A, with Eric Hoeprich on basset clarinet. At 7:30 p.m., Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 685-0008, Ext. 560, themorgan.org; sold out. (da Fonseca-Wollheim) New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (Friday through Sunday) Jacques Lacombe conducts the opening of the orchestra's Winter Festival. The appealing program features the United States premiere of Tan Dun's Earth Concerto, in which percussionists, including the soloist David Cossin, play an unusual selection of instruments, including those specially sourced from local hardware stores. Tan Dun composed the work to be performed in tandem with Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde" ("Song of the Earth"), a cycle based on ancient Chinese poems. The soloists are the tenor Russell Thomas and the mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Bishop. Friday at 8 p.m., Richardson Auditorium, 61 Nassau Street, Princeton, N.J.; Saturday at 8 p.m., Prudential Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, One Center Street, Newark; Sunday at 3 p.m., Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South Street, Morristown, N.J.; (800) 255-3476, njsymphony.org; $20 to $90. New York Philharmonic (Friday through Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday) The Russian maestro Andrey Boreyko is the orchestra's guest for two weeks of concerts. His program on Friday at 11 a.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m. features symphonic poems - Stravinsky's "The Song of the Nightingale" and Zemlinsky's "The Mermaid" - and Mozart's Bassoon Concerto, with Judith LeClair. Wednesday's performance substitutes the Zemlinsky with Tchaikovsky's Orchestral Suite No. 3, which is featured as part of a program that will be fully unveiled on Thursday. That one features the suite rounded out by Tcherepnin's "The Enchanted Kingdom" and Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1, with the gifted Gautier Capuçon as the soloist. Sunday brings a chamber-music celebration of the Philharmonic's retiring concertmaster, Glenn Dicterow, at Alice Tully Hall, with works by Korngold, John Corigliano and Dvorak. Friday at 11 a.m., Saturday at 8 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center; $30 to $122. Sunday at 5 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center; sold out, but a standby line will form at 4 p.m. for returned tickets; (212) 875-5656, nyphil.org. Orion String Quartet (Tuesday) The excellent Orion String Quartet, a longtime resident ensemble with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, will play works by Haydn and his younger colleague, and good friend, Mozart. The Orion begins with Mozart's early Quartet in C, K. 157, and Quartet in F, K. 590 ("Prussian"), written in 1790, the year before he died. After intermission comes Haydn's Quartets in G minor (Op. 20, No. 3) and D (Op. 76, No. At 7:30 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5788, chambermusicsociety.org; $30 to $62. Tackas Quartet (Saturday and Sunday) Personal heartbreak, political upheaval and exile are seared into Bartok's six string quartets. Here, over the course of two days, the brilliant Takacs Quartet offers the full survey, performing Nos. 1, 3 and 5 on Saturday and the even-numbered ones on Sunday. Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $52 to $62. (da Fonseca-Wollheim)