Putting Telemann in His Place

The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s music director, James Levine, is still recovering from surgery, so the conducting duties for its current Beethoven cycle have been split among a few guests.

   Last Monday, the group took its penultimate program of the Sixth and Seventh symphonies to Carnegie Hall under the baton of Lorin Maazel, who had just led two similar performances in Boston. I can’t recall ever hearing such a sublime rendition of the “Pastoral,†with every detail lovingly brought out, the tempos subtly changing to accommodate the shifts in figuration. The orchestra’s sound was rich and warm and the whole feeling was one of expansive joy. The Seventh had a radiant, uplifting drive in the first movement, and the tempos throughout were brisk, even the slow movement was a bit faster than is normally heard. The finale, as has been much reported, went like the wind, which was not to all tastes, but brought the house down.

   OK, on the local scene, do you know who was godfather to one of Bach’s sons, a contemporary of Vivaldi, a good friend of Handel, a more prolific composer than any of them, in his day probably better known for musical talent than even Bach [and the composer of a baroque concerto played for the homecoming of one art editor’s first offspring]? It’s none other than Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), whose works are less widely performed than they ought to be.

   Crescendo, the Lakeville-based early music group intends to do its part to remedy that neglect by presenting two concerts of Telemann’s varied work this weekend, highlighting three facets of the composer’s achievement: sacred music, instrumental works, and oratorio.

   The concerts will be held at the First Congregational Church, 251 Main St., Great Barrington, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 14; and at Trinity Church, 484 Lime Rock Road (Route 112), Lakeville, at 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 15. Tickets are $25, $10 for children under 18. (A group rate is available for the Great Barrington concert.) Call 860-435-4866, e-mail sales@CrescendoBerkshires.org or go to www.CrescendoBerkshires.org.

   Performers include the Crescendo Chorus and the Crescendo Baroque Orchestra conducted by Christine Gevert. Vocal soloists will include well-known soprano Julianne Baird, who will hold a master class in Baroque singing, “Ornamentation in the Da Capo Aria,†on Monday, Nov. 16, at 10 a.m., at Trinity Church. The class is for young professionals and exceptionally talented amateurs, and will be open to the public. Details are available on the Crescendo Web site.

   The Torrington Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Charles Fidlar, conductor, presents “American Landscapes†with soloists, Kimberley Parsons, soprano, and Timothy Wallace, piano. The program includes Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,†Gershwin and Kern songs; Copland’s “Promise of Livingâ€; Paul Nelson’s “Contrastsâ€; Ron Nelson’s “Jubileeâ€; and Scharnberg’s “Rhapsody on America the Beautiful.† The concert is in the Nancy Marine Studio Theatre on the Warner Theatre Campus (Main Street, Torrington) on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 at the Warner Theatre Box Office or call 860-489-7180.

   The Bardavon’s Matinees and Music senior citizens program kicks into high gear on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 2 p.m., when the Bardavon presents a Big Band Tribute, an afternoon of the swinging sounds of Basie, Ellington, Miller, and Goodman.

   The program features The Tony Corbiscello Big Band in a swinging tribute to the music of the big band era.  The performance is the culmination of a six-week school residency program with the Poughkeepsie High School Jazz Ensemble. Tickets are available at the Bardavon Box Office, 35 Market St., Poughkeepsie, NY, or by calling 845-473-2072. Tickets are $5 by donation. No one will be turned away for non-payment.