On Sept. 11, May Festival music director James Conlon released the news that he would leave the Paris Opera as chief conductor when his contract ends in 2004. The same day, terrorists attacked his native New York.

        Mr. Conlon will conduct Benjamin Britten's War Requiem with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and May Festival Chorus this weekend in Music Hall, repeated in New York's Carnegie Hall on Oct. 9.

Conlon

        The New Yorker's emotions were still very much near the surface as he spoke by phone from Paris, where he was spending a rare evening at home last week.

        Question: It's a chilling coincidence that you are doing Britten's War Requiem, exactly four weeks from the day of the attacks. As a native New Yorker, what was your reaction when you heard the news about the World Trade Center?

        Answer: Like everybody else, I haven't thought about anything else. I am particularly deeply affected. ... it's my city. The pain of seeing that inflicted on so many people and the consequences — it's just very, very painful.

        At the same time, it has absolutely reinforced my decision to be back with all the people I love. ... I will have been a music director for 21 years in Europe, and I'm ready for a change.

        To me this reinforces my sense of being an American and wanting to be there, whatever happens.

        Q: The War Requiem was written to dedicate a church destroyed in World War II and uses poetry written during World War I. Are Wilfred Owen's words relevant today?

IF YOU GO

What: Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, James Conlon, conductor; May Festival Chorus, Robert Porco, director; Cincinnati Boychoir, Randall Wolfe, director (the American Boychoir will sing at Carnegie Hall); Marina Shaguch, soprano; Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor; Olaf Bar, baritone.    Dedication: The CSO and May Festival dedicate these performances to the memory of all those who have lost their lives to acts of war. The Red Cross will be in Music Hall's lobby to accept donations.    When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday     Where: Music Hall    Tickets: $12-$51; $10 students. 381-3300 or cincinnatisymphony.org.    Read the review: Saturday on Cincinnati.Com, keyword: symphony, and Sunday in Tempo.

        A: The piece to me is one of the most transcendent pieces in the 20th century. And the substance of the music transcends even its text. Consequently, even if the text has no specific reference to what is going on today, the piece does.

        Q: What is the message?

        A: There's no question that Britten was a pacifist....In war, everybody loses. I'm not saying this piece is a prescription for anybody of how to solve what has happened. But I do think that the music should inspire our humanity, in order to bring out the best in ourselves and to find the best solution.

        Q: Much has been written lately about music as a healing art. What kind of a performance do you hope for in New York?

        A: My feelings at this moment are wanting very deeply to give back to help those people who gave me so much, to give back to the place that nurtured me.

        Q: How will you feel when you conduct the War Requiem in Carnegie Hall?

        A: I have no idea, but it's not going to be just another concert. ... I conducted a concert (in Paris) on Thursday night (Sept. 13). The orchestra came to me and said they wanted to express their solidarity with me, and with America, and they asked me to dedicate the concert. I made a short speech dedicating the concert to the victims and asking for silence after the first two pieces. It was a very moving event.

        Q: What is the mood of people in Europe?

        A: People are very deeply affected. I was in Germany when it was happening, and people were extremely, extremely affected. This was the most affected I have ever seen Europeans about anything about America.

        Q: What for you is the most emotional moment of Britten's War Requiem?

        A: It's a perfectly constructed piece. It is a masterpiece. I think that the confrontation of the enemy soldiers — who are both victims themselves — just before the end, is the dramatic high point. It all builds toward that.

        I think that's very important for us to remember, when we ourselves are going to be tempted to see masses of people and some kind of faceless enemy — masses of people are not at fault for this.

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