Boston Symphony Orchestra

Scampo chef Lydia Shire is Tanglewood bound. The Boston Symphony Orchestra announced yesterday that Shire will be the first chef to design a special menu for the Tanglewood Opening Night Gala Dinner on July 8. We’ve seen that menu, which is influenced by the BSO’s all-Italian program, and it includes duck, lamb chops, tuna, and melon shots — served separately, of course.

HANDEL: "Water Music" Suite (arr. Harty) MOZART: Symphonies Nos. 36 ("Linz") and 38 ("Prague") Boston Symphony Orchestra Charles Munch, conductor (ICA Classics DVD) BEETHOVEN: "Egmont" Overture TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5 Boston Symphony Orchestra Erich Leinsdorf, conductor (ICA Classics DVD) ICA Classics continues its welcome series of video recordings that the Boston Symphony Orchestra made back in the 1950s and 1960s, in conjunction with WGBH-TV, under music directors Charles Munch and Erich Leinsdorf, often in repertoire with...

James Levine 's health is apparently not improving much. Levine, whose chronic health problems forced him to step down as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is canceling yet more performances at the Metropolitan Opera. The Met said yesterday that Fabio Luisi will replace Levine in a new production of Wagner 's "Goetterdaemmerung. " The 67-year-old Levine has not conducted since May 14.

BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Bernard Haitink, conductor At: Symphony Hall, Thursday night (repeats Friday and Saturday) August is coming early this year for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, or at least the end-of-summer musical rituals. I mean of course Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which has an honored place on the BSO's yearly schedule, traditionally performed on the final program of the Tanglewood season. This week, BSO conductor emeritus Bernard Haitink has also chosen the work to end the subscription season in Symphony Hall.

Citing health reasons, conductor Kurt Masur has canceled his appearance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Festival Chorus in three performances of Beethoven's monumental "Missa Solemnis," starting tonight. Details about the maestro's condition were not available. Masur will be replaced in all of the Boston concerts by TFC conductor John Oliver. Masur has also withdrawn from the BSO's Carnegie Hall performance of the work scheduled for March 6. His replacement for the New York Concert has not yet been announced.

Italian conductor Riccardo Chailly has withdrawn from his two weeks of scheduled performances in January with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, citing "health reasons. " The concerts had been keenly anticipated as a first meeting between the BSO and a prominent conductor frequently speculated to be a potential candidate to succeed James Levine as the BSO's next music director. Orchestra spokeswoman Bernadette Horgan said yesterday that the search committee is just beginning its work, and has not released any information about official candidates.

BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The BSO concludes its cycle of John Harbison's symphonies with the premiere of the Symphony No. 6. David Zinman conducts the program, which also includes Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Strauss's "Till Eulenspiegel. " Jan. 17. Symphony Hall. 617-266-1200, www.bso.org HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY Harry Christophers returns to lead H&H in works by Handel, Corelli, and J.C. Bach alongside Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," with concertmaster Aisslinn Nosky as soloist.

CLASSICAL MUSIC GEORG FRIED RICH HAAS The Boston-based chamber orchestra Sound Icon performs the keenly anticipated local premiere of Haas's "In Vain. " 7:30 p.m., Feb. 3. Institute of Contemporary Art. 617-478-3103, www.icaboston.org BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Charles Dutoit returns to lead Debussy's "La Mer" and Strauss's Suite from "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. " And the French cellist Gautier Capucon makes his BSO debut as soloist in Henri Dutilleux's "Tout un monde lointain" Feb 2-4. Symphony Hall.

The sad ending to James Levine's tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra was of course the biggest local story in classical music this year. Levine conducted only one BSO program in 2011, a double bill of Bartok and Stravinsky operas, before another setback to his health forced his withdrawal from performances of Mahler's Ninth Symphony - and he never returned, to Boston or to Tanglewood. His resignation went into effect Sept. 1, marking the end of a remarkable era of revitalization at the BSO that he launched but could not see to fruition.

When flowers bloom, temperatures rise, and spring starts to arrive on the South Shore, the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra is preparing its final concert of the season. This year the orchestra is bringing the familiar sounds of the Broadway stage to Braintree's Thayer Academy Center for the Arts, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The orchestra, conducted by Jin Kim, will perform a medley of songs from the beloved musicals "Phantom of the Opera," "The King and I," "Oklahoma!" and "Les Miserables.

When flowers bloom, temperatures rise, and spring starts to arrive on the South Shore, the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra is preparing its final concert of the season. This year the orchestra is bringing the familiar sounds of the Broadway stage to Braintree's Thayer Academy Center for the Arts, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The orchestra, conducted by Jin Kim, will perform a medley of songs from the beloved musicals "Phantom of the Opera," "The King and I," "Oklahoma!" and "Les Miserables.

With Beethoven's music so ubiquitous in Symphony Hall, you could be forgiven for not noticing, but the Boston Symphony Orchestra is in fact winding down its 2011-12 season with essentially one-half of a complete Beethoven symphony cycle. Leonidas Kavakos's Fourth Symphony started off this half-cycle at the end of March, putting on view the enthusiasms of a young conductor still finding his footing. Yet batting cleanup during these final weeks - with the First, Sixth, and Ninth Symphonies - is Bernard Haitink, in whom the classical style resides with a fluency and ease...

Over the four decades that Bernard Haitink has been conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra he has earned an affectionate and loyal following among the city's musical public. But Haitink's annual return to Symphony Hall, typically near the end of the BSO's season, seems to be appreciated first and foremost by the musicians themselves. In private many players will tell you he is among their favorite guest conductors. Certainly the musicians seem to breathe easily under his baton.

Next to his wife, whom he worshiped in ways that made their marriage the envy of friends for half a century, James F. Cleary's great love was Boston. His journey in the financial world took him from a Dorchester upbringing to a home with a commanding view of the city, and Mr. Cleary did not forget the steps he took along the way. "When we used to walk to work together in the mornings, he always amazed me," said his daughter, Karalyn of Boston. "He used to say hello to every caretaker in the Public Garden and on the Common.

Citing health reasons, conductor Kurt Masur has canceled his appearance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Festival Chorus in three performances of Beethoven's monumental "Missa Solemnis," starting tonight. Details about the maestro's condition were not available. Masur will be replaced in all of the Boston concerts by TFC conductor John Oliver. Masur has also withdrawn from the BSO's Carnegie Hall performance of the work scheduled for March 6. His replacement for the New York Concert has not yet been announced.

PICK OF THE DAY Rolling over Beethoven Conductor Kurt Masur has his work cut out for him at his Boston Symphony Orchestra gig. In addition to presiding over the BSO, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and international soloists, the maestro uses his baton for Missa Solemnis, Beethoven's challenging Catholic Mass setting. Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. (through Feb. 25). $20-$120, $20 under 40 (first-come-first-served basis, one pair per performance). Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston.

James Levine , the former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming performances with the Metropolitan Opera after falling and damaging his vertebrae. As a result of this latest injury, the Met has made Fabio Luisi its principal conductor and announced that he will replace Levine in productions of "Don Giovanni" and "Siegfried. " Levine will continue as the Met's music director. The latest injury, during Levine's vacation in Vermont, came as he was recovering from another back surgery.

Reprinted from late editions of yesterday's Globe. After a bumpy month of conductor cancellations, the Boston Symphony Orchestra is back in familiar hands this week with Charles Dutoit on the podium. We can expect to see a lot of Dutoit at Tanglewood and in Symphony Hall during these interim seasons, as the orchestra taps conductors that project reassurance and continuity to the musicians and public alike. That Dutoit has the ability to do so while also leading vibrant, dynamic performances is not to be taken for granted.