Art beat in May

Boston Orchestra returns

The Boston Symphony Orchestra will perform under the baton of Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit at the ongoing China Orchestra Festival. Highlights of the concert will include Mussorgsky's A Night on Bald Mountain and Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini featuring pianist Behzod Abduraimov. The repertoire will also include symphonies of Mahler, Tchaikovsky and Mozart. The orchestra's long-awaited return to China will include performances in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, marking the orchestra's first performances in China since its historic 1979 tour as the first US orchestra to visit the country after the establishment of diplomatic relations.

7:30 pm, May 1-2. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.

Suede on center stage

Suede will return to China to headline the upcoming Midi Music Festival in Beijing and Shanghai and perform the band's hugely acclaimed second album Dog Man Star to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its release. As the oldest outdoor music festival in China, Midi Music Festival will have over a hundred acts rocking on five stages, including Graham Central Station led by its founder Larry Graham, gothic metal band Lacrimas Profundere from Germany and Chinese rockers and bands including Xie Tianxiao and Miserable Faith.

May 1-3. Beijing Kuangbiao Sports Park, 1 Sujiatuozhen Nan'anhe, Haidian district, Beijing. 400-610-3721.