The summer months inevitably see Muscovites descend on the city's historic estates, where they soak up sun and stroll across the neatly kept grounds. But in a parallel tradition that dates back to the estates' noble past, summer also brings the alluring attraction of concerts.

With most orchestras and opera companies taking a break until the fall, Moscow music lovers can satisfy their craving for the classics by attending performances at Ostankino, Tsaritsyno and Kuskovo. Indeed, few venues in Moscow are more suited to hosting summer concerts than these palaces, where attending a performance transports you to an imperial past -- to the time when high society would converge on these very same mansions for musical soirees.

Ostankino: The centerpiece of this elegant estate is a splendid 18th-century concert hall. One of the few theaters of the period that is still intact and frequently used today, it is renowned for its diligently preserved wooden interior, decorated with classical motifs on stucco and embellished with chandeliers and peacock blue curtains.

Attending a performance there, it is evident why performers and audiences alike have found the hall so enchanting for ages -- the intimate size lets the sound resonate throughout the domed and pillared house.

Back in the day, Count Nikolai Sheremetev built the theater for his 200-strong troupe of serf performers. It was among these that the count discovered Praskovya Kovalyova, the sweet-voiced serf girl who gave us one of Moscow's most beloved romantic fables. Kovalyova, whose talents earned her the stage name "Zhemchugova," derived from the Russian word for "pearl," began starring in the estate's opera productions as a child. She won the heart of her master whom she surreptitiously married -- needless to say, a taboo in aristocratic society -- only to succumb tragically to tuberculosis days after childbirth.

Zhemchugova returned for a birthday encore last weekend, however, when soprano Olga Matveyeva borrowed the peasant's persona to revive selections sung on that very stage over two centuries earlier. In an eclectic program, Matveyeva interspersed lively renditions of 18th-century Russian romances and Italian arias with poetry recitations and readings from some of the original singer's fan mail.

The estate's concert series, "Sheremetev Seasons in Ostankino," continues until September. Saturday's offering looks particularly promising: In another birthday celebration, violinist Pavel Sedov and pianist Vitaly Yunitsky will commemorate Fritz Kreisler's 130th birthday with "Exposing the Mystifier," a concert of the legendary virtuoso's own compositions alongside others by Luigi Boccherini and Giovanni Grazioli.

"Exposing the Mystifier" (Razoblacheniye Mistifikatora) takes place Sat. at 5:30 p.m. at the Ostankino Estate Theater, located at 5 1st Ostankinskaya Ulitsa. Metro VDNKh, then tram 11 or 17. Tel. 283-6465, 286-6288.

Tsaritsyno: If Ostankino has revived the estate's rich musical tradition, Tsaritsyno is now making up for what it never had. The estate's deceptively named Opera House was never actually used for music until quite recently. Like other buildings in the estate, designed as an extravagant summer residence for Catherine the Great, the building was left unfinished. It was completed only after extensive renovations a decade ago.

Catherine might well have reconsidered and ordered the music hall finished immediately had she been able to attend last Sunday's performance by operatic bass Vladimir Tverskoi. The tuxedo-clad singer performed an array of "old-time Russian romances" -- a genre consisting of 19th-century poetry set to music -- that thundered off the house's whitewashed walls and steeply vaulted ceiling, resounding in every nook of the hall.

Although the theater at Tsaritsyno is about to take a monthlong break, listeners will have a chance to catch one last performance this Sunday, when soprano Irina Khovanskaya sings pieces from classic films in a program dubbed "Favorite Melodies of Years Past."

"Favorite Melodies of Years Past" (Lyubimiye Melodii Proshlykh Let) takes place Sun. at 4 p.m. at Tsaritsyno Estate Opera House, located at 1 Dolskaya Ulisa. Metro Tsaritsyno, Orekhovo. Tel. 325-4844.

Kuskovo: Perhaps the most breathtaking and well-maintained of the three estates thanks to its copious state funding, Kuskovo also belonged to the illustrious Sheremetev family. Today it hosts chamber music concerts in the opulent ballroom of the main palace, which shares Ostankino's white and salmon-pink color scheme. This year's concerts will continue to Sept. 10.

Last Tuesday, an audience braved midsummer cloudbursts and thunder to pack the house for an evening of piano trios starring violinist Igor Zaidenshnir, cellist Grigory Katz and pianist Natalya Bogdanova. While the performance would have been exciting anywhere, the ballroom's frescoed walls and ceiling -- replete with gilded mirrors, ornate carvings and classical sculptures -- contributed an ambiance rarely found in concert halls.

"We've played in all the estates, museums, concert halls, but Kuskovo categorically beats them all," Zaidenshnir said during an intermission, giving the acoustics high marks and praising the openness of the hall.

Pianist Margarita Chkheidze will perform works by Mozart, Scriabin, Rachmaninov and Chopin on Tues. at 7 p.m. at Kuskovo Estate Museum, located at 2 Ulitsa Yunosti. Metro Ryazansky Prospekt, then bus 133 or 208. Tel. 375-5252, 370-0150. For a full schedule of concerts at Kuskovo and other Moscow estates, see the Calendar.