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Fall Arts Preview: Classical Music

Yoon S. Byun

Classical Music

ISABELLA STEWART
GARDNER MUSEUM
The Claremont Trio kicks off the museum’s Sunday series (Sept. 13), which this fall will also feature keenly anticipated appearances by cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Robert Levin (Oct. 25 and Nov. 1) as well as the Borromeo Quartet, which will survey the complete Bartok String Quartets (Dec. 20). 617-278-5156, www.gardnermuseum.org

ODYSSEY OPERA The young company’s next rarity will be Massenet’s “Le Cid,” to receive its Boston premiere in a concert performance under Gil Rose’s baton, with a cast headed by tenor Paul Groves (Sept. 18). Odyssey will also collaborate with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project for a fall performance of Gunther Schuller’s one-act opera of 1970, “The Fisherman and His Wife” (Nov. 22). 617-585-1260,
www.odysseyopera.org

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A FAR CRY The self-directed chamber orchestra has an ambitious season cued up, beginning with a program titled “Trans/Americana” featuring works by Philip Glass, Gabriela Lena Frank, Villa-Lobos, and Alberto Ginastera. Sept. 26, 4 p.m. St. John’s Church, Jamaica Plain. 617-553-4887, www.afarcry.org

BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Andris Nelsons opens the new BSO season with an all-Russian program devoted to works by Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff, with piano soloist Evgeny Kissin (Oct. 1-3). Opera fans will not want to miss the orchestra’s concert performances of Strauss’s “Elektra” (Oct. 15 and 17). Symphony Hall. 617-266-1200, www.bso.org

BOSTON LYRIC OPERA BLO’s fall season commences with Puccini’s “La Bohème,” in a new production directed by Rosetta Cucchi and conducted by David Angus (Oct. 2–11). Then comes its annual off-site offering, this year devoted to Philip Glass’s chamber opera adaptation of Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony” (Nov. 11-15). 617-542-4912, www.blo.org

BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL BEMF starts its local concert season with a recital by soprano Emma Kirkby and lutenist Jakob Lindberg (Oct. 2), and continues with Solamente Naturali (Oct. 16) and mezzo-soprano Anne-Sofie von Otter (Nov. 9). For this fall’s chamber opera, BEMF revives Handel’s “Acis and Galatea,” with a cast that includes Aaron Sheehan, Teresa Wakim, Douglas Williams, and Jason McStoots (Nov. 28-29). 617-661-1812, www.bemf.org

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CELEBRITY SERIES Notable Celebrity Series performers this fall include soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianist Gilbert Kalish (Oct. 17), pianist Lang Lang (Oct. 25), cellist Yo-Yo Ma (Nov. 17), and the Takacs Quartet (Dec. 4). 617-482-6661, www.celebrity
series.org

BOSTON PHILHARMONIC Benjamin Zander’s orchestra begins with a pairing of Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra” and Holst’s “The Planets” (Oct. 22). Then comes a return to Wagner, with soprano Alwyn Mellor joining for a program of excerpts from some of the composer’s best-known operas (Nov. 18-22). 617-236-0999, www.bostonphil.org

BOSTON CLASSICAL ORCHESTRA Violinist In Mo Yang returns to the ensemble (Sept. 27) with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, under the baton of music director Steven Lipsitt, in a program that also includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. Then it’s cellist Allison Eldredge as the featured soloist (Oct. 25) in Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C Major. Faneuil Hall, 617-423-3883, www.bostonclassical
orchestra.org

HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY Harry Christophers kicks off the new season for the period instrument orchestra and chorus with two performances of Mozart’s “Requiem” (Oct. 2 and 4) in Symphony Hall. Richard Egarr then arrives for a Jordan Hall program devoted mostly to works by Gabrielli and Castello (Oct. 30 and Nov. 1). 617-266-3605, www.handelandhaydn.org

BOSTON BAROQUE Martin Pearlman leads off his ensemble’s season with Vivaldi’s rarely spotted oratorio “Juditha Triumphans,” with vocal soloists Amanda Forsythe, Daniela Mack, and Leah Wool. Oct. 23, 8 p.m., Jordan Hall. 617-987-8600,
www.bostonbaroque.org

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NEW MUSIC Guerilla Opera introduces Mischa Salkind-Pearl’s “Troubled Water,” about the life of writer Natsuko Higuchi (Sept. 18-25); soprano Tony Arnold and violinist Movses Pogossian perform Kurtag’s iconic “Kafka Fragments” at Boston Conservatory (Sept. 23); MIT Sounding opens with cellist Maya Beiser rethinking canonical rock tunes (Sept. 25); Boston Musica Viva leads off with the East Coast premiere of Steven Stucky’s “Cantus” (Sept. 26); BMOP has the local premiere of Tigran Mansurian’s Requiem (Oct. 18); Dinosaur Annex celebrates Eric Chasalow’s 60th birthday (Oct. 24); the New England Philharmonic, Collage New Music, and New England Conservatory all pay tribute to Gunther Schuller (Oct. 25, Nov. 1, and Nov. 19 respectively); the venerable Ensemble InterContemporain makes a rare local appearance at the ICA with works by Cage and Boulez (Nov. 15); and the Jack Quartet returns to Boston University’s Center for New Music with scores by Zorn and Boulez (Nov. 18). www.guerillaopera
.com; www.bostonconservatory.edu; www.mit.edu; www.bmv.org; www.bmop.org; www.nephilharmonic
.org; www.collagenewmusic.org; www.necmusic.edu; www.icaboston.org; www.bu.edu

CHAMBER PLUS Boston Chamber Music Society sets sail with Haydn and Beethoven trios (Sept. 20); the Juilliard Quartet returns to the Concord Chamber Music Society (Sept. 27); Emmanuel Music embarks on a “Bach Reimagined” season (Oct. 3) and continues its Mendelssohn/Wolf chamber series (Oct. 25); Boston Camerata offers Latin American Baroque music (Oct. 3-4); Andris Nelsons conducts members of the BSO for the Terezin Music Foundation Gala (Oct. 5); Chameleon Arts Ensemble goes from Saint-Saens to Shostakovich (Oct. 10-11); Radius Ensemble premieres a newly commissioned work by Elena Ruehr (Oct. 17); pianist David Deveau performs a solo recital at Rockport Music (Oct. 24); Musicians of the Old Post Road have a nature-themed program (Nov. 6-7); and Mistral opens with a concert titled “Voices of Innocence” (Nov. 7-8). www.bostonchamber
music.org; www.concordchambermusic
.org; www.emmanuelmusic.org; www.bostoncamerata.com; www.chame
leonarts.org; www.radiusensemble.org; www.rockportmusic.org; www.old
postroad.org; www.mistralmusic.org

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CHORAL BOSTON Cantata Singers opens with an eclectic program under guest conductor Joseph Flummerfelt (Oct. 10); Blue Heron continues its ambitious Ockeghem project with the composer’s “Missa L’homme armé” (Oct. 17); Boston Cecilia opens with works by Howells and Nicholas White (Oct. 18); Musica Sacra has a Renaissance program (Oct. 24); Chorus pro Musica begins with Bach, Esenvalds, and more (Nov. 7); Back Bay Chorale sings Brahms and Schubert (Nov. 7); Masterworks Chorale takes on the Fauré Requiem (Nov. 13); and Cappella Clausura offers music by Copland, Rebecca Clarke, and Elena Ruehr (Nov. 14-15). Information on many local choruses is available at www.bostonsings.org.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SCHOOLS Longy celebrates its centennial at SeptemberFest (Sept. 25-27); the NEC Philharmonia takes on Mahler’s Fifth Symphony (Sept. 30); Boston Conservatory students perform Weill and Brecht’s “Threepenny Opera” (Oct. 15-18); and the Parker Quartet resumes its Harvard residency (Oct. 16). www.longy.edu; www.necmusic.edu; www.boston
conservatory.edu; www.harvard.edu

JEREMY EICHLER

Jeremy Eichler can be reached at jeichler@globe.com.