As part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s season-long “A Time for Reflection—A Message of Peace” project, “the CSO’s Oct. 18-20 program, conducted by Marin Alsop, seemed exquisitely tailored to the mood of the moment,” writes Wynne Delacoma in Tuesday’s (10/23) Musical America (subscription required). “A world premiere of a CSO commission by French composer Bruno Mantovani, Threnos, was a compelling reflection on the chaos and personal trauma of war…. The program included Frank Bridge’s Lament, a meditation prompted by the sinking of the Lusitania, a British passenger ship, in 1915, and Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3, commissioned during the Second World War in 1944.… Threnos offered all the jarring cacophony we would expect in a piece about war…. Its large orchestra includes expanded percussion ranging from bass and snare drums to tubular bells and woodblocks…. Alsop created an almost palpable sense of urgency and forward motion…. Associate concertmaster Stephanie Jeong provided the most prominent solo voice. At times her violin reeled and gasped like a civilian trying to survive war’s brutality…. Copland’s Third Symphony turned out to be a thoughtful wrap-up…. Food for the soul in troubled times.” Also on the program was Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto, with soloist Daniil Trifonov.
Posted October 24, 2018
