If the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra's 2007-08 season were a continent you could survey with Google Earth, you'd see two glittering cities on either end of a rugged, colorful landscape. The cities are two rollicking celebrations of pagan delight, "The Rite of Spring" by Igor Stravinsky (October 6) and "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff (May 22 and 24). Mid-continent you'd see the peaks of Yo Yo Ma (May 5) and guitarist Sharon Isbin (February 7 and 9) and a long train track running from north to south, Michael Daughtery's "Deus ex Machina," a new piano concerto, co-commissioned by the RPO, to be performed by the RPO and soloist Terrance Wilson (November 1 and 3.)

On the whole, the landscape promises adventure, emotional power, and enough bends in the river to hold your interest.

"I feel a spiritual connection to a whole bunch of pieces this season," Christopher Seaman recently said on the phone from Glasgow, Scotland. This season marks his tenth as music director of the RPO. Saturday's opening night gala gives him the chance to conduct the very first piece he ever led in the U.S., "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra." (Coincidentally, that happened in Rochester in 1984 when former RPO music director and Seaman's friend David Zinman invited him up for a conducting gig.) Seaman says he's also looking forward to leading the RPO in "Serenade to Music" by Vaughan Williams.

"I love that piece for sentimental reasons," Seaman says, "because I knew two of the original singers in The Sixteen, [the English choral group] who premiered the work in 1937."

A week later, when the RPO navigates "A Sea Symphony" by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Seaman says he'll tap into his affinity for the poetry of Walt Whitman. "A Sea Symphony," featuring soprano Jane Eaglen, baritone Dean Elzinga, and members of the Rochester Oratorio Society (October 11 and 13) combines the lyrical gift of an English composer with the literary muscle of the Good Grey Poet.

Other straight-ahead classical concerts feature Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony No. 6" (November 15 and 17), Brahms' "Fourth Symphony" (November 1 and 3), and "Scheherazade," Rimsky-Korsakov's dazzling tour-de-force based on "The Book of One Thousand and One Nights" (February 28 and March 1).

"Nothing touches both your soul and your intellect like the sound of an orchestra," said Jeff Tyzik last week on the phone from Cape Cod. Tyzik, the RPO's principal pops conductor, has been preparing to conduct the RPO during a silent film, "Safety Last," on November 9 and 10.

"I've never conducted for a silent film," Tyzik says. "That builds in an excitement factor for me." ("Safety First," a comedy, was one of the first films shown in Eastman Theatre in 1923, when the hall was brand new.)

The RPO's Pops series also features two nights celebrating the success of the orchestra's Gershwin CD with pianist Jon Nakamatsu (May 9 and 10). Tyzik is not-so-secretly hoping for a Grammy for the best-selling recording in the orchestra's 85-year history.

Pops fans also have the chance to hear three Broadway divas (February 15 and 16), Irish tenor John McDermott (March 14 and 15), and Beatlemania, a tribute to the Fab Four (April 11 and 12). On October 19 and 20, Jennifer Holliday (Broadway's original "Dreamgirl") opens the pops season with standards and classic tunes.

Other cities' pops conductors are collaborating with heavy metal bands, hobbit film composers, and video game creators. Tyzik says he's considered similar cutting edge shows, but he hasn't yet seen anything to tempt him. For 2008-09, he says he's thinking about bringing in Elvis Costello, Wynnona Judd, or Ben Folds Five.

"We're trying to be a little unpredictable," says Andy Cassano, the RPO's Interim President and CEO. Cassano, who more than anyone has a bird's-eye view of the whole season, says he's especially looking forward to hearing violin concertos by Bartok (November 16 and 17) and Stravinsky (April 24 and 26), as well as guitarist Sharon Isbin in "Three Pieces for Guitar and Orchestra" arranged by Jeff Tyzik in February.

"Watching her play is like watching Yo Yo Ma," Cassano says. "You can feel the passion in her playing. I can't wait."

RPO Opening Night Spectacular

Eastman Theatre, 26 Gibbs St.

Saturday, October 6

7:30 p.m. | $35-$200 | 454-2100, rpo.org

Brenda Tremblay hosts radio concerts from the RPO Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. on WXXI-FM, Classical 91.5.