Without orchestral instruments, catgut would serve no purpose and lyrical movie scenes would be scored with people shouting the emotions that you should be feeling. Bask in the music of classical masters as played by modern ones with today's Groupon for a concert ticket to one of eight performances presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County at venues in either Costa Mesa and Irvine. Choose from the following options:

For $20, you get one balcony-front or orchestra-front seat. Choose between the following performances:

• Brentano String Quartet on Thursday, February 11, 2012, at 8 p.m. (a $45 value)
Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio and Friends on Saturday, February 23, 2012, at 8 p.m. (a $45 value)

For $25, you get one promenade seat. Choose from the following performances:

• Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra: Part I on Thursday, October 13 at 8 p.m. (up to a $55 value)
• Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra: Part II on Monday, October 17, at 8 p.m. (up to a $55 value)
Marino Formenti with guests Evan Gardner and George Benjamin on Saturday, January 7, 2012, at 8 p.m. (up to a $50 value)

For $40, you get one orchestra seat. Choose between the following performances:

• Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano in "Fiesta Navidad" on Tuesday, December 13, at 7:30 p.m. (up to a $65 value), plus one ticket to the Cruise of Lights (up to a $17 value; up to an $82 total value)
St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday, March 13, 2012, at 8 p.m. (up to an $85 value)

• For $45, you get one orchestra seat for the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra: Part II on Monday, October 17, at 8 p.m. (a $98 value).

The Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, Marino Fomenti, and the St. Petersburg State Symphony will perform at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa. The Brentano String Quartet and the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio will perform at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Irvine. The Cruise of Lights is in Huntington Harbor.

The Philharmonic Society of Orange County (PSOC) throws open the moon roof of Southern California to the orchestral ensembles of the world, both contemporary and classical. Grammy Award–winning conductor Valery Gergiev leads the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra through a tour of Tchaikovsky symphonies, opening the PSOC's 2011-12 season and saluting Carnegie Hall's 120th anniversary with Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5, famously named after the composer's pin code. Holiday spirits soar to the Grammy-reaping sounds of bright brass, rhythmic strings, and passionate tenor vocals during annual Mexican celebration "Fiesta Navidad," which includes a ticket to a nighttime boat tour of luminous seasonal decorations festooning Huntington Harbor.

Performances continue in 2012, as Marino Formenti, known for his fiery renditions of contemporary piano works and spot-on impressions of baked Alaska, ignites Beethoven’s venerable Diabelli Variations after fellow ivory ticklers the ivories with John Cage's Variations on a Theme and an original work. Beethoven's notoriously demanding Große Fuge throws down an auditory gauntlet to challenge the Brentano String Quartet's dexterity with kaleidoscopic melodies. The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio explores the book of love according to Romantic canon, alongside a new quintet penned for the trio by contemporary American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. On its inaugural transcontinental tour of the Unitd States, the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra debuts in Orange County with masterworks such as Maurice Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 1, and Gustav Mahler's Rock Lobster.