Toasting to classical music under the stars

What can I say? I’m fickle. One minute I’m going on and on cheeriwng the return of classical music to the concert halls, and the next I’m fixing to ditch them all in favor of some cold rosé, fresh air and “La Traviata” under the stars. Get your best blankets ready, folks: Summer concert season is back.

Below find a modest-size picnic basket of outdoor classical shindigs of all sizes that should find a place on your calendar.

Wolf Trap Opera

Wolf Trap Opera presents an exciting trio of productions this summer. Carl Maria von Weber’s rarely heard 1821 opera “Der Freischütz (The Marksman)” comes to the Barns on June 18, 24 and 26 — a bookend to the season’s closing show, Carlisle Floyd’s “Susannah” on Aug. 12, 14 and 20, also at the Barns. But for a proper main-stage Wolf Trap Opera experience, be sure to catch Chanáe Curtis as Violetta in “La Traviata” at the Filene Center, directed by Emma Griffin and featuring the National Symphony Orchestra under conductor Roberto Kalb on July 15. Various dates through Aug. 20 at Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Rd., Vienna, Va. opera.wolftrap.org.

Glimmerglass Festival

The annual Cooperstown, N.Y., opera festival helmed by Washington National Opera Artistic Director Francesca Zambello returns with a strong summer lineup. A production of “The Sound of Music” with the Houston Grand Opera brings Rodgers and Hammerstein’s beloved final musical to life (July 8-Aug. 19). Mezzo-soprano Briana Hunter sings the lead in a new production of “Carmen,” a production with Minnesota Opera (July 16-21). A special double-bill pairs Kamala Sankaram and Jerre Dye’s “Taking Up Serpents” with Damien Geter and Lila Palmer’s “Holy Ground” (July 29-Aug. 20). Playwright Ken Ludwig presents the world premiere of his Rossini-heavy comic opera “Tenor Overboard” (July 19-Aug. 18). Sandra Seaton premieres “The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson,” a play with music by Carlos Simon celebrating the founder of the National Negro Opera Company (Aug. 15-16). And Sankaram teams with Kelley Rourke for a new operatic retelling of “The Jungle Book,” featuring the Glimmerglass Youth Chorus (Aug. 4-8). July 8-Aug. 21 at Glimmerglass, Cooperstown, N.Y. glimmerglass.org.

Tanglewood

The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home in Lenox, Mass., has a busy season with way too many highlights to list, but here’s a handful. Andris Nelsons opens the orchestra’s summer season July 8 with Leonard Bernstein’s “Opening Prayer,” featuring baritone Jack Canfield, as well as the composer’s second symphony, “The Age of Anxiety,” featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring.” On July 9, he leads pieces by Carlos Simon, Barber, Ellington and Gershwin, featuring soprano Nicole Cabell and pianist Aaron Diehl. Cabell returns to Tanglewood later in the month to sing Donna Elvira in a concert performance of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” Other highlights include soprano Ying Fang and bass-baritone Shenyang (July 17); soprano Latonia Moore and pianist Seong-Jin Cho (July 24); conductor Cristian Măcelaru with cellist Yo-Yo Ma (Aug. 14); a 90th birthday celebration for John Williams (Aug. 20); and Michael Tilson Thomas leading the young Russian piano phenom Alexander Malofeev in Rachmaninoff’s epic Piano Concerto No. 3. (Aug. 28). Various dates through Aug. 28 at Tanglewood, 297 West St., Lenox, Mass. bso.org.

Ravinia Festival

The 36-acre summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra once again features Marin Alsop, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s music director laureate, as chief conductor for three of the orchestra’s six weeks in Highland Park, Ill. (The remaining weeks will be filled by guest conductors, including Carlos Miguel Prieto and Peter Oundjian). Alsop’s concerts include soprano Yeree Suh and baritone Matthias Goerne as well as her own “Breaking Barriers” series (July 29-31), which this year focuses on women on the podium — including a tribute to Chicago Symphony Chorus founder Margaret Hills — and features Esperanza Spalding and soprano Janai Brugger. Through Sept. 18 at Ravinia, 201 Ravinia Park Rd., Highland Park, Ill. ravinia.org.

Ojai Music Festival

If California is calling your name this summer, this year’s Ojai Music Festival is curated by AMOC, the boundary-pushing opera company founded by Matthew Aucoin and Zack Winokur. Among other things, the festival features a performance of composer Andrew McIntosh’s “Little Jimmy” (with pianists Conor Hanick and Aucoin and percussionists Jonny Allen and Mari Yoshinaga) paired with the premiere of Aucoin’s “Family Dinner” — a cycle of mini-concertos. Other highlights: Composer Anthony Cheung premieres his song cycle “The Echoing of Tenses,” set to poems by a selection of such Asian American writers as Monica Youn, Jenny Xie and Ocean Vuong; soprano Julia Bullock and pianist Conor Hanick perform a new production of Olivier Messiaen’s song cycle “Harawai”; and an era-leaping finale concert joins AMOC with early-American music ensemble Ruckus and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo for a program that stretches from Vivaldi and Frescobaldi to Nina Simone and Julius Eastman (and throws in a choreographed rendition of Schubert’s “Ständchen.”) June 9-12 at Ojai Music Festival, 210 S Signal St., Ojai, Calif. ojaifestival.org.