Beethoven and Bruckner at Bard

Symphonies, both “Threes,†by two Viennese Bs are the feature on this week’s twin concerts by the American Symphony Orchestra at Bard College. The ensemble, led by music director Leon Botstein, is traversing the entire Beethoven cycle this season. The “Eroica,†was largely hailed as a masterpiece from its first public performances in 1804. Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3, on the other hand, was a total disaster at its first performance, due to the ineptitude of the conductor, who, regrettably, was the composer himself. Should’a hired a pro. The audience began leaving, and it seems that the orchestra eventually gave up and left, too, as things got soggier and soggier. Revised twice, the symphony was finally accepted as a major work of Bruckner’s maturity (he was 49 when he wrote it). An interesting pairing of works at Bard’s Fisher Center Feb. 5 and 6 at 8 p.m., with a preconcert talk by the conductor at 6:45 p.m. For tickets, go to fishercenter.bard.edu/tickets or call 845-758-7900.

   Here’s a fine opportunity to provide medical aid to the Haitian earthquake victims: a benefit concert for Hospital Albert Schweitzer is sponsored by Salisbury Rotary Club on Feb. 7 at 3 p.m., at Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village. The program will feature Celtic music by the Paton Family band, with a special guest, champion fiddler Dylan Foley.

   Rotary member Inge Dunham of Lakeville said the hospital was not devastated by the earthquake, though the influx of those flooding in for shelter and medical care is “draining the hospital’s resources to its limit.†Rotary is “definitely looking for support and contributions,†according to Dunham, who has been to Haiti on numerous missions. Tickets at the door. You can also contribute directly to Salisbury Rotary Foundation, earmarked HAS, PO Box 287, Salisbury, CT 06068.

   Gershwin, Jarrett, Sondheim, Copland and Debussy will be on the bill Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 7 at 3 p.m. in a benefit for the Rhinebeck Center for Performing Arts. The pianists, JoAnne and Paul Schubert (who also has a piece on the program), have conducted and performed in more than 100 local productions, and are donating the proceeds of the concert to the center. Tickets, call 845-876-3080, or go to www.centerforperformingarts.org.

   “Prairie Home Companion†fans can actually watch this week’s show with special guest Elvis Costello in an HD broadcast at the Mahaiwe Theatre in Great Barrington on Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. (encore performance Feb. 9). Tickets: www.mahaiwe.org. The same program will be at the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie, www.bardavon.org.

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