Like cheese, classical music is best enjoyed when in string form. Snack on the sounds of cultured compositions with today’s deal: for $130, you get two reserved-seating tickets to the three-concert Inside the Classics series performed by the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall (a $272 value). Seating is best available in the 2 and 3 price scale. Guests choose all Friday or all Saturday performances of the following concerts:

• Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 5, Friday, November 11, at 8 p.m.
• John Adams’s My Father Knew Charles Ives, Friday, January 27, at 8 p.m.
• An in-progress commission by Judd Greenstein, Friday, March 30, at 8 p.m.<p>
• Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 5, Saturday, November 12, at 8 p.m.
• John Adams’s My Father Knew Charles Ives, Saturday, January 28, at 8 p.m.
• An in-progress commission by Judd Greenstein, Saturday, March 31, at 8 p.m.<p>

The Minnesota Orchestra’s Inside the Classics series combines new and classic orchestral music with illuminating discussion from conductor Sarah Hicks and violist-cum-host Sam Bergman. Hicks and Bergman enlighten audience members with historical facts about the composer while the orchestra chimes in with excerpts from the upcoming piece, helping listeners pick out important musical themes and figure out if they are at the right concert. The 2011–12 series kicks off with Shostakovich’s imposing Fifth Symphony, written during the repressive Soviet regime. In the second concert, John Adams’s My Father Knew Charles Ives uses evocative minimalism to paint auditory portraits of three New England locations. The third concert will showcase a new work by Judd Greenstein, commissioned with microdonations from Minnesotan music lovers and written with sounds from their wiretapped homes.

Concerts take place at Orchestra Hall, where an unusual design, wooden floor, and one-inch separation from its supporting structure enhance acoustics, enlivening orchestral sounds and preventing midair collisions between muddled notes. Ticketholders receive one free parking space per concert; parking is located at the 11th and Marquette ramp.

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The Minnesota Orchestra has received favorable press in the Star Tribune and the Independent. More than 3,675 Facebookers are fans.