A guide to summer’s classical music festivals

“Summertime and the livin’ is easy,” George Gershwin wrote, with lyrics by his brother Ira Gershwin and husband-and-wife duo, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward. It’s also the time for a great selection of classical music at the festivals in New England and New York. Though the traffic might not be as “easy” as the listening, the music — or most of it — should make the travel worth the pain. And since this year marks the centennial of “Rhapsody in Blue,” don’t be surprised to find a lot of good Gershwin. Here are some of the summertime festivities that deserve your attention.

The preeminent classical music festival in the east — and maybe in the entire country — takes place in the scenic outdoor splendor of the Berkshires, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Opening night features an all-Beethoven concert with BSO music director Andris Nelsons leading violinist Hilary Hahn in the composer’s sole violin concerto, followed by the grand “Eroica” Symphony (July 5). And fans of soprano Renée Fleming can hear her in what remains her most sympathetic repertoire, the music of Richard Strauss, with a selection of songs with orchestra and opera arias from “Intermezzo” and “Der Rosenkavalier,” along with Nelsons conducting Strauss’ Symphonic Fantasy on “Die Frau ohne Schatten” and the waltz-filled “Der Rosenkavalier” Suite (July 7).

What promises to be an illuminating afternoon discussion between master choreographer George Balanchine’s biographer Jennifer Homans and Boston Ballet director Mikko Nissinen about Balanchine’s profound relationship with Stravinsky will be followed by Nelsons and the BSO accompanying the Boston Ballet in Balanchine’s first Stravinsky ballet, the sublime “Apollon musagète” (better known as “Apollo”).  The rest of the program will be Rimsky-Korsakov’s seductive “Sheherazade,” which will feature the famous violin solos played by the BSO’s new concertmaster, Nathan Cole (July 12).

The most ambitious Tanglewood concert of the summer will surely be Nelsons leading the massive final act of Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle, “Götterdämmerung,” with celebrated soprano Christine Goerke singing Brünnhilde’s climactic “Immolation Scene” (July 20). I’m even more curious about the Ukrainian-born Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska, music director of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and great-granddaughter-in-law of Sibelius. She’ll be leading a beautifully conceived program of the Stravinsky Violin Concerto (with stellar violinist Leila Josefowicz) and the Sibelius Symphony No. 5, preceded by the brief Sibelius Canzonetta in an arrangement by — who would have guessed? — Stravinsky (Aug. 10).

The most exciting Tanglewood program may not be with the BSO at all, but a rare visit by Les Arts Florissants, William Christie’s renowned early-music ensemble, performing “The Fairy Queen,” Henry Purcell’s deliciously melodic comic opera based on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” A midsummer night’s dream indeed (July 18).

Throughout the Tanglewood summer, you can also catch guest appearances by an impressive array of celebrity musicians including Yo-Yo Ma, Kirill Gerstein, Yuja Wang, Johnny Gandelsman, Midori, Steven Isserlis, Paul Lewis, Emanuel Ax and John Williams. And also Gustavo Dudamel, who’ll be returning to Tanglewood to conduct the National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela in an international spectrum of music by American, Venezuelan, Argentinian and Russian composers: John Adams, Antonio Estévez, Alberto Ginastera and Dmitri Shostakovich (Aug. 8).

But the most important concerts of every Tanglewood season may be at the annual Festival of Contemporary Music, which probably includes more composers you haven’t heard than those you have. Among the latter are this summer’s FCM curators Stephen Mackey and Tania León (July 25-29).

Rockport Chamber Music is another high-end festival, though on a smaller scale than Tanglewood. Of course, as its name indicates, it’s all chamber music, and the venue is indoors (though the Shalin Liu Performance Center’s rear-stage picture window offers a spectacular view of the harbor). Some of the summer’s highlights include pianist Inon Barnatan, music director of the La Jolla Summerfest (and Renée Fleming’s frequent musical partner), playing Rameau, Ravel, Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff (June 20); British cellist Steven Isserlis, with pianist Connie Shih, doing Beethoven, Fauré, Boulanger and Adès (June 28); and the popular conductorless ensemble A Far Cry (July 5). Rockport’s season ends with the unsurpassed Borromeo String Quartet, with guest pianist David Deveau (former director of the Rockport Festival) and guest violist Barry Shiffman (the festival’s current director), in music by Bach, Mozart and Brahms — a concert that may very well distract you from the view (Aug. 25).

Violinist Daniel Stepner directs the Aston Magna Summer Festival, now in its 51st year. For four Thursdays at Brandeis University’s Slosberg Music Center and three Saturdays and one Sunday at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, Aston Magna will begin with Stepner himself playing Bach’s three solo violin partitas (July 11 and 13) and end with an “English Extravaganza,” a delicious vocal program featuring songs by Purcell and a rare performance of John Eccles’ 1701 musical masque, “The Judgment of Paris” (Aug. 1 and 4).

Boston’s community orchestra offers free concerts at “landmarks” around the city, especially at the Hatch Memorial Shell on the Charles River Esplanade, where conductor Christopher Wilkins opens the season with “American Icons: Gershwin & Williams.” The program features Gershwin’s “Girl Crazy” Overture (the hit songs from that musical include “I Got Rhythm” and “But Not for Me”), soprano Joelle Lamarre singing Jessie Montgomery’s “Freedom Songs,” and five pieces by John Williams, including music from “Jaws” and the flying theme from “E.T.” (July 24). The other concerts scheduled are “Brahms & Dvořák: Songs without Words” (Aug. 3), “An Evening of Summer Music” (Aug. 10), “Mozart & More” (“more” being Gershwin, Florence Price, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Joseph Bologne, Eubie Blake, William Grant Still, Astor Piazzola and Arturo Márquez — with violinist Adrian Anantawan (Aug. 14), and “Sheherazade & Borodin: Arabian Nights,” which also includes Gity Razaz’s “Mother” and Akram Haddad’s “Arabic Singers Medley” (Aug. 21).

It’s our good fortune that CCCMF directors Jon Manasse (clarinet) and Jon Nakamatsu (piano) have friendly relationships with some A-list string quartets, especially the marvelous Borromeo String Quartet, which will be returning for its 34th summer in two ambitiously different programs. The first one will include a Prelude and Fugue from Bach’s “The Well-Tempered Clavier” arranged for string quartet by first violinist Nicholas Kitchen, Mozart’s cherishable D-major Quartet, K. 499 (the “Hoffmeister”), and the Sibelius “Intimate Voices” Quartet in D-minor (Falmouth Academy, Aug. 1). The next evening’s program consists of Beethoven’s last string quartet (Opus 135) and Schubert’s beloved “Death and the Maiden” Quartet (Wellfleet First Congregational Church, Aug. 2).

Also on the CCCMF schedule are concerts with the excellent Ying and Escher Quartets. The Ying Quartet brings a program of Haydn and Dvořák (Cotuit Center for the Arts, Aug. 6) and at the season’s final concerts, the Eschers will be performing Fauré and Brahms with each of the festival’s co-directors (Falmouth Academy, Aug. 15 and Wellfleet First Congregational Church, Aug. 16).

Contemporary music group Bang on a Can’s annual LOUD Weekend at MASS MoCA features such legendary, genre-bending performers as composer-vocalist Meredith Monk, percussionist John Hollenbeck and cellist Maya Beiser, who’ll be playing her variation on Terry Riley’s groundbreaking “minimalist manifesto” “In C.” If you can’t make it to North Adams, cup your ears — you might be able to hear this event from Tanglewood.

Gounod’s richly melodic “Faust” used to be one of the most popular operas in the repertoire, even if it doesn’t approach the philosophical depth of Goethe’s poetic masterpiece. But it’s not done as often as it used to be — maybe there just aren’t enough performers with unqualifiedly gorgeous voices. So this new production is something of a curiosity. The singers, all new to me, are tenor Duke Kim in the title role of the aging scientist who sells his soul to the devil for eternal youth (and a young lover), soprano Raquel González (who has covered one of the leading roles in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of “Florencia en el Amazonas”) as the innocent Marguerite and bass-baritone Justin Hopkins in the part that’s the most fun to watch and should be the most fun to perform, the ruthless Méphistophélès. Brian Garman, artistic director and co-founder of the Berkshire Opera Festival, conducts, and Jonathan Loy, the other co-founder, is the stage director.

In a state park just outside of one of the most picturesque towns on the East Coast is a spacious and comfortable outdoor amphitheater that seats 5,200 people (and room for 20,000 more on the sloping lawn), with onstage and backstage facilities for the two major companies that have their summer homes there: the New York City Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra. And the intimate Spa Little Theater suits the needs of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. If I had to choose one of the latter’s programs, it would be the Escher String Quartet playing music by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Brahms (July 14).

SPAC’s greatest events are invariably with the New York City Ballet. I can’t guarantee that it’s still the case, but because the arts center is on the grounds of a state park, the public has been able to watch the company rehearse (strictly verboten in New York). But I guarantee that, because Balanchine was the most musical of choreographers, you’ll hear some marvelous music accompanying the dancing. One of the two Balanchine programs this summer will be his dazzling three-act, evening-length, seemingly plotless ballet “Jewels,” with music by Fauré for the delicate “Emeralds,” by Stravinsky for the rambunctious “Rubies,” and Tchaikovsky for the classical “Diamonds” (July 10-11). The second Balanchine program includes two opposites: “Stars and Stripes,” a high-flying comic extravaganza to the music of John Philip Sousa, and Balanchine’s exquisite abbreviation of “Swan Lake” (more Tchaikovsky), along with his brief but touching Hans Christian Andersen ballet “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” (a 1975 SPAC commission, set to Bizet’s enchanting “Jeux d’Enfants”) and scenes from the full-length “Coppélia” to delightful music by Leo Delibes (July 12-13).

Saratoga might sound like an odd location for the Philadelphia Orchestra, but nevertheless, this is where it’s been coming since 1966. This summer’s Philadelphia program is a mixture of Pops (with African popular music sung by Angélique Kidjo, jazz pianist Marcus Roberts and his trio, John Legend, and two movie nights) and classical, with the orchestra’s celebrity music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin leading only one of the orchestra’s dozen concerts — Richard Strauss’ colorful if longwinded “Alpine” Symphony, along with Schumann’s rarely done Konzertstück for horns and orchestra (Aug. 8). There’s also a strong program led by the Finnish maestro Dalia Stasevska (a few days after her Tanglewood appearance): Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 (Aug. 15).

I’ve only seen one production by Opera Saratoga: Ricky Ian Gordon’s 2019 setting of Frank Bidart’s harrowing long poem “Ellen West.” This summer, in a different venue and the performers all new to me will be two familiar works: Frank Loesser’s “Guys and Dolls” (musically ambitious but not exactly an opera), Mozart’s comic yet profound “Cosí fan Tutte” plus a brand-new commission, as yet (and possibly intentionally) untitled, by the up-and-coming 30-year-old composer izzi figgis-vizueta (multiple performances of each).

The Baseball Hall of Fame isn’t the only attraction Cooperstown has going for it. This summer, the typically varied Glimmerglass opera season ranges from such entertainments as Francesco Cavalli’s 17th-century mythological musical comedy “La Calisto” and Gilbert & Sullivan’s hilariously satirical “The Pirates of Penzance” to such darker works as Leoncavallo’s verismo tragedy “Pagliacci” (with Italian opera’s most famous tenor aria) and “The Hours” composer Kevin Puts’ contemporary, multilayered look back to a 19th-century murder mystery, “Elizabeth Cree” (multiple performances of each).

Every year, Bard College offers a production of an opera that’s rarely staged anywhere else and two weekends devoted to the exploration of a single composer. This year’s rarity is Meyerbeer’s juicy five-act grand opera “Le prophète” (1849), dealing with religious conflict in the 17th century. At the Metropolitan Opera, it’s been a vehicle for such powerhouse singers as tenor Enrico Caruso (1918) and mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne (1977 — the Met’s most recent revival). The work was of such large cultural significance that the opening audience included Chopin, Verdi, Delacroix, Dickens and Turgenev. Berlioz reviewed it and loved it. For Wagner, it triggered his most antisemitic rant (Meyerbeer was Jewish). The internationally admired stage director/designer Christian Räth returns for his third Bard production. Bard’s president, Leon Botstein — the major force behind Bard’s summer programs, conducts. The singers include tenor Robert Watson in the title role, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Feinstein as his mother, and soprano Amina Edris as his lover (July 26-Aug. 4).

Bard’s composer-of-interest this year is one of the most interesting in the history of music, Hector Berlioz. Of the 11 programs devoted to him, most of them will include music — not only by Berlioz, but also by his contemporaries and successors — with the entire symposium concluding with a concert performance of one of Berlioz’s supreme masterpieces, “La damnation de Faust.” Botstein leads the American Symphony Orchestra and British-American tenor Joshua Blue, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke (singing one of the most gorgeous and moving arias in the entire mezzo-soprano repertoire) and bass-baritone Alfred Walker (Aug. 18).

Monadnock Music has been a summer staple since 1966, when it was founded by the late conductor and composer James Bolle. Its concerts brought music — especially important contemporary music — to towns and villages all around the state. Now master cellist Rafael Popper-Keizer, who has been performing with Monadnock Music for some 22 years, is the director, continuing the worthy tradition. This summer there will be free chamber music concerts and more intimate (and pricier) concerts (with food) at private homes, the latter including a rare performance of Richard Strauss’ setting of Tennyson’s poem “Enoch Arden,” with pianist Heng-Jin Park and the superb baritone Aaron Engebreth doing the narration (Jaffrey, June 27).

If you’re spending any time in New Hampshire this summer, keep your eye out for these appealing concerts from small chamber groups and small and large orchestras popping up all around the Granite State, fostering community engagement with classical and contemporary music. Founded in 1952, this festival includes on its programs both lovable standards and fresh, more recent pieces. For example, the program titled “Midsummer Serenade” presents such appealing pieces for string orchestra as Grieg's “Holberg” Suite, Lars-Erik Larsson's Concertino for Trombone and Strings, George Walker's Lyric for Strings, and Dvorak's String Serenade (Plymouth, July 11; Gilford, July 12).

For one of New England’s preeminent concert series, the venues are some of the great Newport mansions. Many of the concerts are already sold out, so here are a few for which tickets are still available at the time of this writing (but probably not for long). The wonderful Tony Award-winning Broadway star Laura Benanti, who can really sing (remember her hilarious impersonation of Melania Trump?), has two intimate concerts (July 9 and July 10). Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh and Canadian pianist Dinuk Wijeratne join A Far Cry, Boston’s conductorless string orchestra, in an imaginative evening of music by the two soloists, along with Janáček’s Idyll Suite for String Orchestra (July 12). Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers and pianist Max Levinson make up a superb duo for a program ranging from Corelli and Beethoven (the great “Spring” Sonata) to Philip Glass and Morten Lauridsen (July 14). These all take place at The Breakers.

If you’re heading up to Maine, you could hardly do better than any of the Salt Bay Chamberfest’s four Music in Blue concerts. (I assume the evocative title refers both to the coastal waters and the jazz inflection of some of the pieces.) The first program is an ideal example of a summer program that’s both light and serious, featuring a new work played by the brilliant pianist/composer Conrad Tao, George Gershwin’s inventive “Preludes,” Tao’s arrangement of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” and “Contrasts,” the piece Bartók wrote for jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman, violinist Joseph Szigeti and himself on the keyboard (Lincoln Theater, Damariscotta, Aug. 6).

With five concerts this summer under the rubric “Charles Ives and the American Tradition” (although only four will actually include Ives’ music), the Norfolk Chamber Festival at the Yale Summer School of Music will still be doing more than any other musical organization in this preview to celebrate the 150th birthday of America’s leading musical maverick. I’m amused by the program called “Composers with a Side Hustle,” whose composers had to dip into non-musical enterprises to earn their living: Ives in insurance, Borodin in chemistry and Philip Glass driving a taxi (Aug. 9). That combination makes for a lively program, but perhaps more musically illuminating are the Ives programs dealing with his likes — Beethoven and Frank — and dislikes — Varèse (July 5), or with his folk inspirations (July 12), or with considering the way Ives inspired the current generation of American composers, including the world premiere of a newly commissioned piece by Vijay Iyer appropriately titled “Musical Bridges” (July 27). Also on hand will be the Brentano Quartet, playing a varied program of Mendelssohn, Schnittke and Haydn (July 6), and another program including Beethoven, Shostakovich and — even better — more Haydn (July 13). And the Dover Quartet will offer Mozart, Janáček’s “Intimate Letters” and Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” (July 26).

Yellow Barn’s popular summer season consists of five weeks of concerts (in the Big Barn), masterclasses and residencies for professionals and students. Notable German composer/clarinetist Jörg Widmann returns as this year’s composer-in-residence and leads a free public conversation called “Musikliebe” (“Love for Music”) (July 30). All Thursday concerts are also free. (Specifics of the programs have not yet been announced.)

Marlboro Music was founded in 1951 by some of the legends of the classical music world: Rudolf Serkin (artistic director until his death in 1991), Adolf and Hermann Busch, and Blanche, Louis and Marcel Moyse — some of those names now lost to time. Over the years they were joined by a who’s who of performers and composers. Today, Marlboro Music is under the direction of pianists Mitsuko Uchida and Jonathan Biss and this year’s composers-in-residence are Thomas Adès and Sally Beamish. For three weeks, some 75 musicians of all ages and from around the world (the list of participants is on the Marlboro website) rehearse pieces of chamber music with the resident artists. The most finished efforts will be selected for public performance over the following five weekends. At this moment, it is unknown what music will be heard or who will play it. Yet this uncertainty has never kept audiences away.