We often think of Classical Music these days as essentially anything orchestral. However, Classical Music is separated into several musical periods. Most notably the three main periods, Baroque (1600 - 1750), Classical (1730 - 1820), and Romantic (1780 - 1910).
While there is obviously overlap between these periods, as musical evolution was an organic rather than a mechanical process, I really would like to know whether, like us here in the modern era, performances of older classic pieces were performed? In the era of Beethoven, could I go and hear a Bach recital? Would Chopin lovers be able to get their Vivaldi fix even if they lived long after his death? Would I be stuck listening to only Mozart and his contemporaries if I lived in 1860?
Was the majority of music performed only the music of the day, or were older works showcased to a greater regularity? In essence, while I largely like to refute the notion that we in 2017 are any more "advanced" in our tastes than those past, are we different in the way that for the past century at least, we have chosen to enjoy works from across multiple time periods, or was such enjoyment of past works an accepted fact for the majority of music lovers?
I'd say that over the time period you mention concert programs slowly expanded their scope both in geography and time as music publication increased and (in the 19th century and early 20th century) neglected composers of the past were revived.
Vivaldi was widely successful in his lifetime, but after his death his works pretty much stopped being performed until there was a revival in the 20th century. After his death, Bach remained admired by musicians but rarely performed in public until the 'Bach revival' began, which is usually dated to Mendelssohn conducted the first performance of the St. Matthew Passion in March 11 1829.
Here're a couple of examples of 'typical' concert programs - in Boston in 1869 there was a great national peace jubilee concert over three days to celebrate the end of the civil war with the President and his cabinet in attendance. First day was a great chorus for 1000 musicians and a choir of 12,000 (no typo, huge choirs were very fashionable) singing national anthems and hymns to peace written especially for the occasion. Second day was Haydn, Handel, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven's 9th. Third day was Verdi's Anvil Chorus (similar huge chorus, cannons, anvils, etc), and Weber.
https://archive.org/stream/historynational00gilmgoog#page/n141/mode/2up
Or take this 1847 fairly typical playbill for a concert by Liszt, one of the first rockstars - works performed are his own Hexameron, an etude by Chopin, Weber, a transcription of Schubert's Die Forelle, plus improvisations/fantasies on themes suggested by the audience, which could have been anything from the theme a Mozart aria like 'Deh vieni alla finestra' to a cock crowing to a symbolic depiction of 'the conflict between youth and old age'.
However, even works like Beethoven's last quartets and sonatas were considered too difficult for a public audience, though you might have been able to catch some Palestrina sung by a cathedral choir.