The classical-music calendar is stuffed with attractive events, from now till New Year’s. I’ll give you my sense of the highlights, or some highlights. This is an excruciating cut, I must tell you.

At the New York Philharmonic, Lorin Maazel is beginning his last season as music director. For three concerts beginning on September 19, his guest will be Lisa Batiashvili, who will play the Beethoven Violin Concerto. She is a smart and moving musician. Should be good.

Then, from September 26 to October 16, Mr. Maazel will lead a Tchaikovsky festival: “The Tchaikovsky Experience.” The critics will have an absolute cow, if they haven’t already. Tchaikovsky, that sappy and worn melodist? How come we can’t have a festival of Nono or Birtwistle? I have a feeling that Mr. Maazel will prove this Tchaikovsky festival worth it.

Beginning on October 18, guest conductor James Conlon will present one of his specialties, Zemlinsky’s short opera “A Florentine Tragedy.” If these performances are as good as Mr. Conlon’s recording — hurrah.

To Carnegie Hall, now. On October 8, Jean-Yves Thibaudet will play Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. If that’s no good, the world is upside down. On October 11, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa will give a recital — I’m guessing it will be the soprano’s farewell to New York. On October 18, Franz Welser-Möst will lead his Cleveland Orchestra in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, the “Resurrection.” I mention it because Bernarda Fink is the mezzo soloist. She is a superb singer, and seldom heard in New York.

On October 19, Christian Gerhaher (a baritone) and Gerold Huber (the pianist) will perform Schubert’s “Schöne Müllerin.” On October 28, Joshua Bell will play two violin concertos with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. One is the Barber Concerto, and the other is a new concerto by the fascinating young composer Jay Greenberg. And when I say young, I mean 15.

Some Berliners? The entire Philharmonic is coming to town, but I’d like to cite one section: the cellos. They work as a separate group, and they have made some distinguished, and fun, recordings. They will give a concert on November 12. Shortly thereafter, there will be two opportunities to hear Thomas Adès, who is not only a top composer but an excellent pianist. On November 15, he will play with the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, and on November 19, he will play a solo recital.

On November 30, Sir Simon Rattle will lead the Philadelphia Orchestra in Schumann’s oratorio “Das Paradies und die Peri.” He has with him a slew — a whole raft — of wonderful singers. Then, in early December, Valery Gergiev will bring in his Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater, and they will give us some Russian opera: Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Snow Maiden” (December 2) and Act II of Borodin’s “Prince Igor” (December 4).

On December 3, the soprano Renée Fleming will sing a new piece by Henri Dutilleux, with Mr. Levine and the BSO. Ms. Fleming says it’s a marvelous piece. And on December 17, Yefim Bronfman will play a piano recital, and it should be wizardly. It includes Ravel’s “Gaspard de la nuit,” for one thing. Kicking off the season for Great Performers at Lincoln Center will be Sir Colin Davis, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. On October 17, they will perform Mozart’s Requiem, and on October 21, they will perform Haydn’s “Creation.” Can’t go much higher than those pieces.

On November 15 and 16, Martha Argerich will play the Schumann Piano Concerto with the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra, under Charles Dutoit. Could be wretched. Could be unforgettably great. On December 2, the tenor Matthew Polenzani will give a recital. And, on December 8 — at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola — the King’s Singers will give a concert of sacred music, including that of two moderns, Arvo Pärt and Henryk Górecki.

At the Met Museum, Ivan Moravec will give a piano recital on October 13. Starting on December 2, Chanticleer will give its annual Christmas concert. Starting on December 7, the Salzburg Marionettes come to town. The hills are alive!

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will present the St. Lawrence String Quartet on November 14. Singing with the quartet will be Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano. And the program includes a new song-cycle by Roberto Sierra.

At the 92nd St. Y, Christian Tetzlaff will play Beethoven’s violin-and-piano sonatas. He won’t play them by himself, of course: He will be joined by the pianist Alexander Lonquich. That starts on November 29.

Finish off with some opera? The Met will open on September 24, with the soprano Natalie Dessay in “Lucia di Lammermoor.” Starting the next night, another soprano, Anna Netrebko, will appear in “Roméo et Juliette.” Starting on October 29, a third soprano, Diana Damrau, will sing in “The Magic Flute.” In the course of this run, she will sing two roles: the Queen of the Night (which has been a signature for her, and which she will now retire) and Pamina.

On October 22, the Met will unveil a new production of “Macbeth,” conducted by Mr. Levine. Starting on November 27, the mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and the ageless Spaniard, Plácido Domingo, will star in a Gluck opera: “Iphigénie en Tauride.” Starting on December 10, Mr. Gergiev will conduct an opera with which he is closely associated: “War and Peace” (Prokofiev).

And starting on December 24, we have “Hänsel und Gretel,” with two of the most winning singers in the world: Christine Schäfer and Alice Coote. You may even run into Santa on the way home.