Coming Attractions in Classical Music: October 2009

By Caldwell Titcomb

Oct 4: Celebrated mezzo-soprano Frederika von Stade gives her farewell Boston performance to inaugurate the Celebrity Series’ new season. Also sharing the spotlight will be the famed soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Symphony Hall, 3:00 p.m.

Oct. 6: Distinguished organist Murray Forbes Somerville, who used to be organist and choirmaster at Harvard, returns to give a free organ recital. Memorial Church, Harvard Yard, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 10: The Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble and Chorale present a rare performance of Hector Berlioz’s imposing “Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale.” Also on the program are Handel’s “Royal Fireworks Music” and a Mozart Serenade. Midway Studios, 15 Channel Center St., South Boston. Free, 8:00 p.m.

Oct. 15-20: Conductor Ludovic Morlot leads the Boston Symphony in an unusual program: Martinu’s “Frescoes of Piero della Francesca,” Stravinsky’s “Capriccio” (with Peter Serkin as piano soloist), the American premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’ “Helios Choros II,” and Tchaikovsky’s infrequently played tone poem “Francesca da Rimini.” Symphony Hall, 8:00 p.m. (except Oct. 16 at 1:30).

Oct. 16/17: Boston Baroque, headed by Martin Pearlman, offers the Boston premiere of Handel’s 1715 opera “Amadigi di Gaula,” sung in Italian with English titles. Jordan Hall, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 21: PBS telecasts the Los Angeles Philharmonic Opening Gala of Oct. 8 with its sensational new music director Gustavo Dudamel. The concert offers the world premiere of “City Noir” by John Adams, widely considered the foremost living American composer, followed by Mahler’s titanic Symphony No. 1. WGBH-TV, 8:00 p.m. (with repeats on Oct. 22, 23 and 26) [The dates may differ in other areas].

Oct. 23/25/27: Opera Boston presents Rossini’s “Tancredi,” starring the noted contralto Ewa Podles. Cutler Majestic Theatre, 7:30/3:00/7:30 p.m.

Oct. 24/25: The Boston Classical Orchestra, under Steven Lipsitt’s baton, gives the world premiere of Howard Frazin’s “Overture,” along with Schumann’s Violin Concerto (with Jennifer Frautschi as soloist) and Mendelssohn’s “Italian Symphony.” Faneuil Hall, 8:00/3:00 p.m.

Oct. 24: Federico Cortese, who was assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony from 1998 to 2002, makes his debut as the new conductor of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, with a program of three masterpieces: Berlioz’s “Roman Carnival Overture,” Debussy’s “Nocturnes,” and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. Sanders Theatre, 8:00 p.m.

Oct. 30: The Chiara Quartet plays Prokofieff’s Quartet No. 1, Webern’s “Five Pieces,” Brahms’s Op. 111 Quintet (with RogerTapping, viola), and Quartet No. 2 by the German-born Ulrich Kreppein, who has just turned 30 and is currently working for a Ph.D. in composition at Harvard. Paine Hall, Harvard Music Building, 8:00 p.m. Free, but tickets are required, available two weeks in advance at the Harvard Box Office in the Holyoke Center Arcade, Harvard Square.