If you are feeling a little cut off from the rest of the world for some reason, the blockbuster program from Jordi Savall, called “Gateway to the East,” may be just what you need. The Catalan viola da gambist and conductor leads a huge group of musicians in an examination of music from Venice, a city at the crossroads of the Byzantine, Ottoman, and European worlds.

Hespèrion XXI and the voices of La Capella de Catalunya perform music by Dufay, Gabrieli, Monteverdi, Cavalli, Vivaldi, and other composers based in Venice. The Orthodox-Byzantine Vocal Ensemble and musicians on the oud and other Turkish instruments will offer up Byzantine hymns, Ottoman marches, and other eastern music for comparison.

This should be one of the top performances on the free concert series at the Library of Congress 8 p.m. Saturday. loc.gov/concerts

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What would it sound like if the devil cast seven magic bullets for a marksman to use in a shooting contest? Find out when Virginia Opera stages its first-ever production of Carl Maria von Weber’s echt-Romantic opera Der Freischütz. There are two performances at the George Mason University Center for the Arts in Fairfax this weekend 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. cfa.gmu.edu; 703-993-8888.

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