Music for a Time of War
The program consists of four compositions inspired by war: Charles Ives' The Unanswered Question (1906), John Adams' The Wound-Dresser (1989), Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem (1940) and Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.
The performance was broadcast live by KQAC and WQXR-FM, the classical radio stations serving Portland and the New York City metropolitan area, respectively.
[2]The program began with Charles Ives' The Unanswered Question, originally the first of Two Contemplations, composed in 1906 (along with its counterpart Central Park in the Dark).
[3] Theodore Bloomfield, who served as music director of the Oregon Symphony from 1955 to 1959, conducted its world premiere at the Juilliard School in New York in 1946.
[7][8] On May 12, the Oregon Symphony repeated the program at the inaugural Spring for Music Festival, marking the orchestra's Carnegie Hall debut.
[1] In February 2011, three months before the Carnegie Hall performance, The Oregonian reported that nearly half of the 1,000 tickets reserved for distribution by the Oregon Symphony had been sold.
[9] Portland's classical radio station, KQAC, broadcast the concert live throughout the Pacific Northwest as part of an ongoing partnership with the Symphony.
[10][12][13] WQXR-FM, the classical radio station licensed to Newark, New Jersey and serving the New York City metropolitan area, broadcast the performance live in 3D sound in collaboration with the design and engineering consulting company Arup.
[16] Prior to the live broadcast, WQXR's Q2 Music provided their own take on the Oregon Symphony's war-themed concert by airing a program with works by Lowell Liebermann, Seppo Pohjola, Steve Reich, Frederic Rzewski, Dmitri Shostakovich and John Adams.
[20][21] The Oregonian's David Stabler wrote that during the May 7 performance the orchestra displayed peak condition and "played with a precision and intensity that would have been unattainable a decade ago".
"[22] In a separate article summarizing reviews by New York critics, Stabler called the Symphony a "virtuosos band" that "now plays with more acute rhythmic precision, more clarity, more informed style ... and more extreme dynamics and tempos".
[23] James Bash of Oregon Music News wrote a positive review of the New York performance, describing it as more enhanced, dramatic and intense than the Portland concerts, partly because of the venue's superior acoustics.
[24] Bash described the orchestra's performance of The Unanswered Question as "compelling and auspicious" and wrote that Sylvan's vocals during The Wound-Dresser "conveyed the sensitive text superbly".
After noting the audience's enthusiastic response to the performance, including multiple bravos and particular recognition for Kalmar, Bash quipped "the Oregon Symphony may be regional in terms of size and budget, but they are world-class when they play".
[30] Sedgwick Clark of Musical America called the orchestra's performance of the Williams' piece "positively searing ... with fearless edge-of-seat tempos ... breathtakingly negotiated by all.
[33] Allan Kozinn, music critic for The New York Times, considered the program "pained" and "thought-provoking", and wrote that Sylvan performed with his "characteristic acuity".
[51] AllMusic's Mike Brownell awarded the album 4.5 out of 5 stars and wrote that the Symphony "prove[d] they can easily stand alongside the world's great orchestras".
[52] Michael Miller of The Berkshire Review appreciated the "precision and sensitivity" of the playing and Karlmar's "lucid, straightforward, and ... virile" approach to the program.
[54] James Bash of Oregon Music News called the album a "brilliant stunner", mirroring his positive review of the Carnegie Hall performance.
[52] Michael Miller complimented the quality of the recording for having "no problems of intonation or ensemble" and said the album "belongs in the reference collection of any audiophile, whether they are inclined to multichannel playback or not".
[8][56] Rubinson, who designated the recording as the year's best concept album, praised the program for being "thought-provoking and restorative" and appreciated the range of emotions it summoned.
Contributor Brett Campbell called the recording one of the year's "most compelling", with "blistering, committed, sharply etched performances" that illustrate the orchestra's quality under Kalmar's leadership.
[61] James Manishen of the Winnipeg Free Press included Music for a Time of War as number three on his list of the ten best classical recordings of the year, calling the performances "superbly prepared".
