Let’s have a little fanfare, shall we? Handel composed his Music for the Royal Fireworks for a monumental occasion: the celebration of the end of an eight-year war and the signing of a treaty of peace. Per King George II, this triumphant music should have “no fidles,” so Handel wrote his festive Fireworks for a loud military band including 18 brass instruments and very few “fidles” (though he later revised the music to welcome strings back). Guest conductor Matthew Halls leads this 18th-century program, which begins with a breezy orchestral suite from Rameau’s opera dealing with Boreas, the god of the north wind. Muffat composed a series of five sonatas for chamber orchestra titled Armonico tributo (“Harmonic Tribute”); these concerts include the fifth in the series, which ends with an elaborate and lively passacaglia that Rameau loved so much he later reused.

How you’ll feel: like standing and cheering; ready to bring back Rococo style

What to listen for:

• …Pyrotechnics! How else to describe Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks, with its cannonfire, fanfare, massive sounds, and nonstop theatrics?
• The MSO’s own Principal Oboe Katherine Young Steele takes center stage for Bach’s concerto for oboe d’amore (“love oboe”), a slightly larger and lower-pitched instrument known for its calm, serene tone. Meet the oboe d’amour.
• At the end of Muffat’s fifth sonata from Armonico Tributo, listen for the glistening passacaglia, which includes a whopping 25 variations on a theme.
• The story behind Rameau’s opera Les Boréades: a queen falls in love, but she may only marry a descendant of the north wind, Boreas. She gives up her throne for love, which infuriates Boreas, and so he abducts her. Abaris, the lover left behind, challenges Boreas — but before they can settle their score, the god Apollo arrives and reveals that Abaris is in fact a relative of Boreas, and may wed his beloved queen.