A love triangle between an ancient African princess and a general! Deals with the devil! Death! What more could you ask for in a season of classical music? From grand dramas to delicate string quartets, this fall has a packed calendar of classical gems.
Snider, Copland, Barber, & Simon
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Sept. 26, 27, & 28
Conductor Andris Nelsons follows up the BSO’s opening program with this dynamic package. Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Forward Into Light” was part of the New York Philharmonic’s “Project 19,” which celebrated the 19th Amendment centennial in 2020. The piece will be paired with Copland’s playful “Clarinet Concerto,” Barber’s dramatic “Adagio for Strings,” and Carlos Simon’s 2023 orchestral epic (in scope if not length) “Wake Up.” bso.org
Mozart’s “Requiem”
Handel & Haydn Society, Symphony Hall, Sept. 27 & 29
Artistic director Jonathan Cohen and the H&H orchestra and chorus connect one of the world’s best-known requiems with a more obscure piece. Performed on the appropriate period instruments, the opening requiem by Michael Haydn (Joseph’s brother) was a huge influence on Mozart’s legendary piece. handelandhaydn.org
Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand”
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Oct. 4 – 6
Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 has it all — an adult chorus, a children’s chorus, an organ intro, eight vocal soloists, a full orchestra, and, of course, Mahler superfan Andris Nelsons leading it all. Mahler’s biggest (and best?) piece is an oratorio taking us into the climax of Goethe’s “Faust.” bso.org
“Fantasies”
Emanuel Ax, Oct. 10 & 13, multiple locations
Boston’s Celebrity Series welcomes legend Emanuel Ax once again (30 appearances at the Series and counting!). At performances at Groton Hill Music Center’s Concert Hall and NEC’s Jordan Hall in Boston, Ax will pair two sonatas of Beethoven’s Opus 27 with selections from Schoenberg’s catalog. celebrityseries.org
Verdi, Dvořák & Stravinsky
Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Nov. 3
Conductor Benjamin Zander invites you to be carried away by Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.” But please don’t be quite as carried away as the audience at its debut performance — the Parisians in 1913 nearly rioted. The Boston Philharmonic pairs Stravinsky with a couple other thrillers in Verdi’s La Forza Del Destino and Dvořák’s “From the New World” (Symphony No. 9). bostonphil.org
“Aida”
Boston Lyric Opera, Nov. 10, Emerson Colonial Theater
Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic opera and triumphant masterpiece follows the story of an Ethiopian princess enslaved by an Egyptian general. Over a century and a half since its debut (and after hundreds upon hundreds of performances at New York’s Metropolitan Opera), “Aida” has become the gold standard of Italian opera. blo.org
Castalian String Quartet
Longy’s Edward M. Pickman Hall, Nov. 14
The quartet-in-residence at the University of Oxford, this string ensemble makes its Celebrity Series debut with a deep and wide selection of pieces. On the docket are Schubert, Kurtág, Coleridge-Taylor, and Beethoven. celebrityseries.org
