Let’s say that you need a quick escape from dreary days of clouds, rain, and freezing fog.

Anthea Kreston, the director of Majestic Chamber Music, has a musical itinerary that may be just the ticket: How about a quick trip to “Winter in Italy?”

“Winter in Italy — the crisp air, the steaming cups of espresso, the mountains,” Kreston wrote in an email about the concert.

The trip departs from the Majestic Theatre Saturday at 3 p.m. (See the bottom of this story for ticket information and other details.)

The program for “Winter in Italy” started when Kreston, an internationally renowned violinist, decided that she wanted to play “Winter” from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” “and then the program unfolded around that spectacular work.”

“Italian classical music is so rich — varied,” Kreston notes. The program includes four works from great opera composers for string quartets, along with “Chrysanthemum,” Puccini’s only work written specifically for string quartet. The program also features a Vivaldi sonata for cello and piano, featuring pianist Dow Yeh, the well-known Corvallis music teacher, and cellist Jason Duckles, Kreston’s spouse.

The program includes La Folia by Corelli, one of the oldest surviving tunes in classical music — and one that’s been incorporated into hundreds of other classical pieces. (It also appears briefly in Beethoven’s 5th Symphony — which coincidentally is being performed this weekend by the Willamette Valley Symphony in concerts in Albany and Corvallis.)

Kreston said Corelli “weaves a masterful set of stunning variations around this simple but evocative melody, sending the violin into magical spirals.”

As always, Kreston has tapped into a wealth of local musical talent for the program, including the other two members of the Majestic String Quartet: violist Annissa Boulder, who plays with the Eugene Symphony, and second violinist Sarah Henderson, a skilled amateur who is a professor of history at Oregon State University.

It’s been a successful season so far for the Majestic Chamber Music series, Kreston reported: “Concerts have been packed — from ‘Playing with the Stars’ to our Ukrainian concert, people of all ages love to come to Majestic Chamber Music — to hear friends play, to learn about the history of music, and to meet new friends.”

If You Go

“Winter in Italy” begins at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Majestic Theatre, 115 SW Second Ave. in Corvallis. Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and $8 for children. Click here to buy tickets.