Thursday-Sunday 5/31-6/3
Legend has it Handel's "Water Music" was brilliant because it had to be. Handel had angered his patron, the Elector of Hanover, by overstaying a trip to London and not returning to Germany. When the Elector became English King George I, Handel had to regain the king's favor. So during a boating party on the Thames, Handel appeared on a barge with musicians and premiered his masterpiece. The SPCO plays the three suites that make up the composition, along with "A Suite of Sinfonias" by J.S. Bach, arranged by conductor Paul Goodwin. (7:30 p.m. Thu., Temple Israel, 2324 Emerson Av. S., Mpls.; 8 p.m. Fri., Wooddale Church, 6630 Shady Oak Rd., Eden Prairie; 8 p.m. Sat., St. Paul's United Church of Christ, 900 Summit Av., St. Paul; 2 p.m. next Sun., Ted Mann Concert Hall, University of Minnesota, 2128 S. 4th St., Mpls. $10-$40. 651-291-1144, www.thespco.org.)
