Weekend Arts Picks

Classical music: This weekend and into next week, it’s a celebration of the life and work of Ludwig van Beethoven, whose 238th birthday is marked next Tuesday. Over at the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach at 3 p.m. Sunday, the Goldstein-Kaler-Peled Trio plays three of the master’s piano trios: the early Trio in B-flat (Op. 11), the Ghost (in D, Op. 70), and the Archduke (in B-flat, Op. 97). Then at 8 p.m. Monday, also at the Four Arts, the trio joins the Palm Beach Symphony’s season opener for the composer’s Triple Concerto along with the Coriolan Overture and the Pastoral Symphony. Ticket prices range from $10-$45. Call the Four Arts at (561) 655-7226 or the orchestra box office at (561) 607-6270. — G. Stepanich

Holiday music: The Empire Brass joins the Master Chorale of South Florida and its new director, Joshua Habermann, in a program of seasonal selections, including works by Monteverdi, Praetorius and Ives, and favorite carols. The chorale gives performances in three counties, and Palm Beach County’s performance is at 4 pm Sunday at the Pine Crest School in Boca Raton. Call (954) 418-6232 or visit www.mastrerchoraleofsouthflorida.org. — G. Stepanich

Rigoletto: The Palm Beach Opera opens its four-opera 2008-09 season Friday with Verdi’s 1851 tale of the curse that comes true and the misery it brings to Rigoletto the court jester and Gilda, his beautiful daughter. With Alberto Mastromarino (Friday, Sunday) and Chen-Ye Yuan (Saturday, Monday) as Rigoletto; Jessica Pratt (Friday, Sunday) and Albina Shagimuritova (Saturday, Monday) as Gilda. 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday; 2 pm Sunday and Monday, Kravis Center. Call (561) 833-7888 (PB Opera) or (561) 832-7469 (Kravis), or visit www.pbopera.org or www.kravis.org. — G. Stepanich

Theater: Psychologist-turned-mentalist Marc Salem seems to be able to read minds, or perhaps he just picks up on the non-verbal clues his subjects give off. Ethe r way, his act is filled with uncanny feats that are surprisingly entertaining. For five days only, through Sunday, see Mind Games and All That Jazz, at the Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse. Tickets are $35, available at (561) 832-7469. — H. Erstein

Film: Mumbai, the site of recent terrorist action, is the setting for Trainspotting director Danny Boyle’s wondrous Slumdog Millionaire, the tale of a lower-class, uneducated guy who makes it to the final rung of India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, is accused of cheating and tells how his rough-and-tumble life prepared him with the answers. A likely Oscar nominee. — H. Erstein