The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: James Gaffigan
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* Notes * Maestro James Gaffigan conducted the San Francisco Symphony (pictured, photograph by Stefan Cohen) in a festive program of Carlos Simon, George Gershwin, and Duke Ellington last night at Davies Hall. Hélène Grimaud joined the orchestra as soloist in Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, which she played with technical skill and relaxed aplomb.…
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* Notes * The company premiere of Die Walküre (Back: Vida Miknevičiūtė as Sieglinde, Jamez McCorkle as Siegmund; Front: Ryan Speedo Green as Wotan, Sarah Saturnino as Fricka, photo by Curtis Brown for the Santa Fe Opera) at Santa Fe Opera last night has spectacular singing. Director Melly Still's production is busy and frentic. The…
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* Notes * “Enjoy your hundredth Carmen!” teased my husband as I left for the opening of the latest production of this opera at San Francisco Opera last night. Quite an exaggeration, at best I’ve seen this opera twenty-five times, though I have seen this staging by Francesca Zambello way back in 2007 at Royal Opera,…
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James Gaffigan has been named Principal Guest Conductor of the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne (Gürzenich-Orchester Köln), starting with the 2012-2013 season. Gaffigan is currently the Chief Conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He was the Associate Conductor of San Francisco Symphony from 2006 to 2009.…
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* Notes * James Gaffigan is conducting San Francisco Symphony in a program of Haydn, Thomas Adès, and Mozart this week. Gaffigan is a tiny sprite of a person, brimming with energy from the beginning in the Allegro assai con brio of Haydn's Symphony No. 52 in C minor. The woodwinds sounded slightly squeaky in their entrance for…
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* Notes * James Gaffigan conducted San Francisco Symphony in a program of Russian music last weekend. The evening began with Tchaikovsky, first his Voyevoda, which was rather incidental, but played well, and then his Violin Concerto. The soloist in the latter was the famed Hilary Hahn, and she could be both ferociously aggressive…
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