Paavo Jarvi

Main Event: Brood with Beethoven
The season opener for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is always a big deal -- but somehow this year it seems bigger than usual, and downright joyous. Perhaps that's because Paavo J#228rvi (pictured) will conduct Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with a crowd of singers and a finale most of us recognize even if we've never set foot in Music Hall.

This is your week to rectify that gap with a ticket to the legendary concert hall on Elm Street in Over-the-Rhine. Not only will you get to watch the emotional J#228rvi conduct the CSO with passion and enthusiasm, you'll hear the 150-voice May Festival Chorus and four soloists. That's nearly 250 musicians onstage -- a force to be reckoned with by any music lover's standards.

Every note is by Ludwig van Beethoven, start to finish. His brooding melodies burst forth two centuries ago. His angry personality and scorn for authority makes him a kindred spirit to contemporary Punk rockers. In his day, many concertgoers were shocked by the raw emotions in his music.

Beer and Ballet

If you choose to "Get your Beethoven on," as the CSO is urging, you'll hear his overture to a ballet, The Creatures of Prometheus, plus a concert aria (a dramatic song by one singer, backed up by the orchestra), "Ah! Perfido," the fervent outcry of a woman betrayed by her lover. But most people will be waiting to hear the big, soaring finish to the Ninth Symphony, a setting of Schiller's poem, "Ode to Joy," depicting the brotherhood of all people.

Concerts are Friday and Saturday evening at 8 p.m. To make a complete evening of it, consider the CSOEncore! pre- and post-concert gathering for young professionals on Saturday. For $50 you get the concert plus appetizers and a cash bar beforehand, then desserts, coffee, a silent auction, entertainment and another cash bar after. It happens in Corbett Tower, a swank spot upstairs from Music Hall's glittering lobby -- a great place to party and celebrate season No. 111. 513-381-3300. (See Onstage.) -- RICK PENDER

THURSDAY 15
Wine and cheese with ballet would be an obvious choice. But BEER AND BALLET? Could the oddly funky scent of hops wafting from the Samuel Adams brewery near Cincinnati Ballet's studios have provided the evening's inspiration? Cincinnati Ballet proposes a new, if unexpected, casual event to show that ballet and beer -- two longtime Cincinnati traditions -- can go well together. The Ballet's first ever "Ballet and Beer," er, mixer offers attendees an inside glimpse into a late-term dance rehearsal for their season opener, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Victoria Morgan (pictured), the Ballet's artistic director and choreographer, will talk, and then there will be cold brewskis afterwards. Discounted tickets for the Midsummer performances will be available. If you're not convinced that beer and ballet belong together, you have nothing to lose -- it's a free event. 513-621-5219. (See Onstage.) -- JULIE MULLINS

Photo By Birdman Records

Modey Lemon

FRIDAY 16
If you're one of those music fans who appreciates the purity and power of the neo-Garage movement but tires of the regurgitation of the same ol' riffs and structures churned out endlessly, Pittsburgh's MODEY LEMON are the band for you. With a muscular rhythmic punch similar to the Touch & Go Post Punk of the '90s, the heavy Blues undertones of Sabbath and Zeppelin, the synth spasms of the finest Art Punk and Psychedelic shading that encapsulates the entire spectrum of retro and modern Psych Rock, the trio's latest release, The Curious City, has the madness and power of their breakthrough, Thunder and Lightning. But The Curious City's lysergic swagger is profoundly more melodic and focused than that previous effort, making the progressive forcefulness even more effective and impacting. The Lemon plays music that demands to be listened to at peak volume, but this isn't some artless noisemaking. Listening to The Curious City cranked on headphones, you'll find yourself looking around at your surroundings a lot, wondering if what you are hearing is in your head, creeping up from behind you or just emanating from the stereo. By album's end, you'll be convinced that all three are true. Modey Lemon's swirling Rock experimentalism is challenging and sometimes disorienting, but it's also crafty, memorable and wildly imaginative. The threesome hits Northside's Comet for a free show Friday night. 513-541-8900. (See Music.) -- MIKE BREEN

FRIDAY 16
Join the party as the WESTON ART GALLERY kicks off its fall exhibition season with a trio of exhibitions, each guaranteed to elicit appreciation. Never disappointing, the Weston's street-level exhibition space at downtown Cincinnati's Aronoff Center will house Circumambulator, a site-specific installation by Nick De Pirro and Ian Williams. Head downstairs for the other new exhibitions: scenarios, situations and circumstances, paintings and works on paper by Paige Williams; and Linked, mixed-media works by Tim McMichael. The Weston continually impresses with its seemingly endless cycle of varied and skillful artists, so consider it a treat -- one that should be indulged on again and again. Opening reception, 6-9 p.m. 513-977-4165. (See Art.) --JULIE BERNZOTT

SATURDAY 17
Saturday at 8 a.m. marks AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati's (AVOC) 16th Annual RED RIBBON WALK, the fund-raiser that boasts a fun-filled morning at Schott's Amphitheatre and a route that saunters around the city, steps across the river, then strides back across the Purple People Bridge for more games and goodies. The symbol of the walk -- a loop of red shoelace -- ties up the event and the cause in one neat package. But what's big in this small package? AVOC's lofty goals for the greater good. Behind Saturday's free breakfast, snacks, lunch and prize giveaways is an organization working to give life, rather than merely health to people infected with HIV. Register online at avoc.org/aidsrunwalk/home.html. (See Sports.) -- LAURA SAYER

Photo By Jymi Bolden

Chad Johnson

SUNDAY 18
As the Cincinnati Reds wind down another disappointing season, the 2005 CINCINNATI BENGALS have a real chance to win more games than they lose, something that hasn't happened since before CityBeat came into existence. Last week's impressive season-opening road win at rival Cleveland is just the first step in Head Coach Marvin Lewis' ultimate goal: a playoff berth. It also revealed that quarterback Carson Palmer's evolution is coming along nicely. With help from the ever-reliable Johnson boys, the Bengals offense looks to continue its potent output in Sunday's home opener against the Minnesota Vikings, a team many picked to win the NFC Central Division despite the defection of talented wide receiver Randy Moss. $60-$80. 513-621-8383. (See Sports.) -- JASON GARGANO

TUESDAY 20
The literary do-gooders of InkTank get in gear for the second season of the LOUDNMOBILE POETRY SERIES, formerly called A Moveable Feast. These roving open readings usually take place on the third Tuesday of the month, starting off in the courtyard at Arnold's Bar & Grill (210 E. Eighth St., Downtown). Tuesday's schedule features two Latin American writers -- Armando Romero, Columbian poet, and Nicaraguan poet/essayist Nacasio Urbina -- and then the floor's open for, well, open readings. Equip yourself with an epic poem, a few lines of something you scribbled down on the bus yesterday morning or go just to listen. Whichever you decide, you won't be sorry. 8 p.m. Free, but donations are always accepted. 513-542-0195. (See Literary.) -- JESSICA TURNER