Boston Classical Review

Marc Minkowski conducts Boston Baroque in Haydn’s The Seasons September 20, his first concert as music director.

Haydn: The Seasons
Boston Baroque/Marc Minkowski
September 20

Marc Minkowski’s first concert as Boston Baroque’s music director features a performance of something both wonderful and rarely heard: Haydn’s late oratorio masterpiece, The Seasons. Soprano Lauren Snouffer, tenor Andrew Turner, and bass-baritone Brandon Cedel are the soloists.  baroque.boston
 
Rossini: William Tell
Boston Lyric Opera/David Angus
September 25-October 4

Nothing screams epic quite like William Tell, Rossini’s four-hours-plus final opera. Boston Lyric Opera will follow the usual practice of abridging the work, yet their 50th-anniversary season opener still promises more than a few vocal fireworks. George Gagnidze sings the title role while BLO music director David Angus conducts. blo.org

Music by Glinka, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky
Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra/Benjamin Zander
November 6

The Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra’s final season surveys some of the highs of the ensemble’s extraordinary, fifteen-year run. This first program visits a couple of their signature numbers—Glinka’s rousing Ruslan & Ludmilla Overture and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5—as well as Stravinsky’s Petrushka. Founding music director Benjamin Zander conducts. bostonphil.org
 
Golijov: Creations
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Eric Jacobsen
November 12-14

The BSO’s largest premiere this season comes courtesy of composer Osvaldo Golijov, playwright David Henry Hwang, and lyricist Leah Hager Cohen. Their collaboration promises to “[illuminate] a joy that is not lessened, but rather deepened, by the understanding that creation and destruction walk hand in hand.” Whatever that means. Musical eclecticism promises to rule, with vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, bass-baritone Davóne Tines, percussionist Cyro Baptista, and kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor joining the orchestra, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and BSO x NEC Honors Children’s Choir. bso.org

“Nordic Circle”
Sarasa Ensemble
November 13 & 14

The Sarasa Ensemble’s song-themed season takes an enticing detour to Scandinavia. Soprano Carley DeFranco and mezzo-soprano Krista River join the period group in a program that includes instrumental numbers by Samuel Adam Strungk and Erik Tulindberg as well as songs by Grieg, Björk, and ABBA. sarasamusic.org

Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s opera The Queen of Spades (Jan. 29 & 31, 2027) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 (April 17) in his final season as music director. Photo: Marco Borggreve

Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Andris Nelsons
January 29 & 31, 2027

Andris Nelsons has made opera-in-concert a central part of his tenure as the BSO’s music director. For his final Boston production in that role, he leads Tchaikovsky’s adaptation of Pushkin’s novella, The Queen of Spades. Tenor David Butt Philip, who wowed in the BSO’s 2025 Die tote Stadt, sings the role of Herman and soprano Kristine Opolais is Lisa. bso.org

Music by Glass, Debussy, and Rameau
Víkingur Ólafsson
February 28

Philip Glass’s 90th birthday in January provides the impetus for pianist Ólafsson’s local return, a recital that pairs music by the iconic American composer with selections by Jean-Philippe Rameau and Claude Debussy. vivoperformingarts.org

Music by Beethoven and Strauss.
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Antonio Pappano
March 11
 
Vivo Performing Arts’ orchestral offerings this season are headlined by a visit from the LSO and its music director, Sir Antonio Pappano. They offer a pair of showpieces: Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben and Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, the latter featuring soloist Maxim Vengerov.
vivoperformingarts.org

Music by Britten and Mahler
Boston Philharmonic Orchestra/Benjamin Zander
April 11

The curtain comes down on an era when Benjamin Zander and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra deliver their final performance. Its main item is the same work with which the ensemble made its debut in 1979—Mahler’s Symphony No. 9. Prefacing the symphony is the Sinfonia da Requiem of Benjamin Britten, a composer with whom Zander studied as a youth. bostonphil.org

Mahler: Symphony No. 3
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Andris Nelsons
April 17

Andris Nelsons makes the final Symphony Hall stand of his 13-year run with Mahler’s epic Symphony No. 3. Conductor and orchestra are joined by mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and the BSO x NEC Honors Children’s Choir. bso.org

Benjamin Zander will conclude the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra’s final season with Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 on April 11. Photo: Liz Linder

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