TANGLEWOOD — Boston Symphony Orchestra The big question is whether James Levine will be back on the podium this summer. If so, his first program will be opening night (July 9), when he is scheduled to lead Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, with vocal soloists Stephanie Blythe and Layla Claire. (The orchestra’s summer season, including a concert performance of Mozart’s “Abduction from the Seraglio,’’ runs through August.) 8:30 p.m., July 9, Shed, Tanglewood, Lenox, 617-266-1200, www.tanglewood.org
TANGLEWOOD — Ozawa Hall Among the promising visitors to Ozawa Hall this season (Mark Morris Dance Group, pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, cellist Pieter Wispelwey), will be the Ebene Quartet, an omnivorous young ensemble from France performing works by Bartok, Mozart, and Beethoven. 8 p.m., Aug. 19, Ozawa Hall, Lenox, 617-266-1200, www.tanglewood.org
ROCKPORT CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL It should be a transformative summer for Rockport as it unveils its new seaside concert hall, the Shalin Liu Performance Center. Artistic director David Deveau is also stepping up the classical programming, beginning with an opening night concert that features a Scott Wheeler premiere, Copland’s “Appalachian Spring,’’ and Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll.’’ 7:30 p.m., June 10, 37 Main St., Rockport, 978-546-7391, www.rockportmusic.org
CALLITHUMPIAN CONSORT Stephen Drury’s versatile new-music band gives an outdoor, waterfront performance of “The Sinking of the Titanic,’’ a signature early work (from 1969) by British composer Gavin Bryars. 7 p.m., Aug. 20, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 617-478-3103, www.icaboston.org
BOSTON LANDMARKS ORCHESTRA Charles Ansbacher leads another season of free weekly concerts at the Esplanade, beginning with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the New World Chorale. 7 p.m., July 14, Hatch Shell at the Esplanade, Boston, 617-520-2200, www.landmarksorchestra.org
ASTON MAGNA The well-established Berkshires-based festival will begin exporting a few of its concerts east to the Boston area this summer. One concert of note is an intriguing all-Mozart program that includes the Clarinet Quintet (with one movement given a new Robert Levin completion) and an 18th-century arrangement of Mozart’s sublime Sinfonia Concertante (K. 364). 8 p.m., June 24, Slosberg Auditorium, Brandeis University. Repeats June 26 at Daniel Arts Center, Simon’s Rock College, Great Barrington. 800-875-7156, www.astonmagna.orgcq/gb
MARLBORO MUSIC Pianists Richard Goode and Mitsuko Uchida return as artistic directors of the venerable chamber music festival. Weekly concert programs are not announced with much lead-time but it’s safe to just choose a weekend and go. You rarely leave Marlboro disappointed. July 17-Aug. 15, Marlboro, Vt., 802-254-2394, www.marlboromusic.org
YELLOW BARN FESTIVAL Artistic director Seth Knopp’s programming makes Yellow Barn a dream for those who don’t want to have to choose between bracing music of the last 50 years and grand 19th-century blockbusters — the concerts often have both. Program details have not yet been announced, but the season will include music by Lindberg, Crumb, Ades, Messiaen, and Schnittke alongside established favorites from the chamber music literature. July 9-Aug. 7, Big Barn, Putney, Vt., 800-639-3819, www.yellowbarn.org
MONADNOCK MUSIC FESTIVAL The Borromeo Quartet appears at Monadnock this summer performing Lera Auerbach’s String Quartet No. 4, Beethoven’s Quartet Op. 127, and an arrangement of a Bach fugue (BWV 552) by the quartet’s first violinist, Nicholas Kitchen. 7:30 p.m., July 17, Peterborough Town House, N.H. 800-868-9613, www.monadnockmusic.org
“LIFE IS A DREAM’’ The Pulitzer Prize winning opera by the Amherst-based composer Lewis Spratlan finally receives its stage premiere this summer — at the Santa Fe Opera — some 32 years after it was completed. James Maraniss’s libretto is an adaptation of the 17th-century work by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Leonard Slatkin will conduct a cast that includes Roger
JEREMY EICHLER
