Rattle rousing

Glad tidings for the concert season

by Lloyd Schwartz

Some very good things lie in store for us in 1998. The Boston Symphony Orchestra, for example, couldn't offer much better news than the return of Sir Simon Rattle. Along with Pierre Boulez, who hasn't made a guest appearance here in years, Rattle is the conductor I most want to hear -- perhaps the most thoughtful and incisive conductor of his generation. And the least complacent. His first concert (January 7 through 10 and 13) is a program centered in Eastern Europe, with one of Dvorak's loveliest works, the Serenade for Winds, Szymanowski's Stabat Mater, and the American premiere of the original version of Janácek's stupendous Glagolitic Mass. Then the following week (January 15, 16, and 17) he's back with a program of familiar Beethoven, the first Leonore Overture, the Emperor Concerto (with Radu Lupu), and the Pastoral Symphony.

Later in the season (April 23, 24, 25, and 28), two favorites of mine, conductor Robert Spano and the elegant Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires, join forces in Mozart's exquisite 23rd Piano Concerto, on a program that also includes works by Michael Gandolfi and Richard Strauss. Call (617) 266-1492 for information.

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Chamber music

Two of the most thoughtful and probing musicians alive make a rare Boston appearance together at the Gardner Museum (January 25): pianist Russell Sherman and violinist Rolf Schulte, will be playing two of Beethoven's best-loved sonatas, the Spring and the Kreutzer. Call (617) 278-5107.

At Brandeis, the Lydian String Quartet is presenting an American Music Weekend with quartets by Irving Fine, Ruth Crawford, Eric Chasalaw, John Harbison ("The Rewaking," with Dominique Labelle), Walter Piston, and Charles Ives, and Roger Sessions's Viola Quintet (April 4 and 5). Call (781) 736-3310.

Celebrities

The celebrities I'm most looking forward to hearing in the BankBoston Celebrity Series are cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who needs no introduction, playing Stravinsky, Brahms, Bernstein, and Gershwin, and Astor Piazzolla (with pianist Kathryn Stott, January 11); the astounding Slovenian pianist Dubravka Tomsic (February 8), who needs no sales pitch (if you haven't heard her, where've you been?); the endearing and enduring mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, in an increasingly rare Boston appearance (January 25); and the irresistible Bolcom (pianist/composer William) & Morris (singer Joan), whose classy versions of songs from classic American musicals are in a class by themselves (January 31).

Later in the season, the celebrity will be former Celebrity Series director Walter Pierce, who'll be honored with a many-celebrity gala. Guests include Yo-Yo Ma, Judith Jamison, Lorraine Hunt, Bolcom & Morris, Isaac Stern, Dubravka Tomsic, the Juilliard Quartet, and Jean-Pierre Rampal (April 26).

Young international-prize-winning baritone Stephen Salters, a future celebrity if there'll ever be one, makes his "Emerging Artist" recital debut (April 17), in that distinguished series also sponsored by the Celebrity Series. Call (617) 482-2595.

Opera

For a couple of decades, what with Sarah Caldwell and Peter Sellars, Boston was practically the opera capital of the world. Now there's only the Boston Lyric Opera, which imports exciting singers on the way up or uses some of the best local ones -- then more often than not undermines them with awful productions. The Lyric's version of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe (January 14, 16, 18, 20, 23, and 25) looks very good on paper. The conductor is Susan Davenny Wyner, the stage director BU's Sharon Daniels, and the leads are soprano Elisabeth Comeaux and baritone James Maddalena. Call (617) 542- 4912.

Choral Groups

If it's profound programming you're seeking, seek no further than the Cantata Singers, under David Hoose. This spring there's a Brahms Requiem, with two Boston treasures, soprano Dominique Labelle and bass Robert Honeysucker (January 23 and 25, with Kurt Weill's First Symphony), and what many consider to be Handel's most moving work, his late masterpiece Jephtha, with a superlative cast that includes countertenor Jeffrey Gall, tenor William Hite, soprano Janet Brown, and bass David Kravitz (March 20 and 22). Call (617) 267- 6502.

I'm also glad to see the superb Coro Allegro turning up for Mozart's Requiem with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, under Gisele Ben-Dor (March 19), on a program with Bach's Third Brandenburg and a John Adams Boston premiere, Gnarly Buttons. Call (617) 661-7067.

New Music

The New Year should be filled with new music, and Collage (also under David Hoose) begins it with two exotic works based on Celtic legends: a revival of Donald Sur's colorful The Unicorn and the Lady and the Boston premiere of Charles Griffes's 1916 ballet, The Kairn of Koridwen -- A Druid Legend (January 11). Call (617) 325-5200.