James Gaffigan returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

James Gaffigan returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra podium (Photo credit: Vera Hartmann)

James Gaffigan opts to go ‘old school’ for his return to the CSO podium
By Kyle MacMillan
CSO Experience
May 24, 2022

Though he might not have a full-time podium post in the United States, James Gaffigan feels fortunate to guest conduct top-level orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony on a regular basis. “Places like that,” he said. “I like to show up every three years or every couple of years, and I’m lucky to do that, and it’s always great to see them.” 

Also on that list is the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which he will lead June 10-11 in popular works by Saint-Saëns, Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky.

“I have so many friends in the Chicago Symphony whom I look forward to making music with again,” he said, naming Stephanie Jeong, associate concertmaster; Kenneth Olsen, assistant principal cello, and David Cooper, principal horn. He became friends with some of these musicians in school, at the Aspen or Tanglewood music festivals or during previous visits to Chicago.

Gaffigan is also slated to return this summer to the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico to conduct the company premiere of Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, originally scheduled for 2020 but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s extremely exciting, because it’s one of my favorite pieces ever, and to do it with the proper amount of rehearsal and a great orchestra and great cast, it’s a luxury,” he said. “It’s going to be one of the highlights of my life so far.”

If Gaffigan is limited for now to guest conducting in the United States, he has plenty positions in Europe, and another major one is on the way. In 2023, he will become music director of the Komische Oper Berlin, one of three major opera companies in Germany’s capital city. “It’s safe to say that it is one of the most exciting opera companies in the world,” he said. The Komische Opera tends to focus on lesser-known works and present them in fresh, compelling ways, a formula that has resulted in the company having the highest ticket sales of any German opera house. “The public of Berlin is really behind us,” he said. “For me, that’s the most exciting thing about that job.”

Gaffigan is in his inaugural season as music director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (Queen Sofia Palace of the Arts) in Valencia, Spain, a performing arts center designed by celebrated Valencia-born architect Santiago Calatrava. He is committed to two opera productions and three sets of symphonic concerts a season there, and he had just finished a rehearsal of Wozzeck just before this interview.

Although that orchestra might not have the cachet of some of its European peers, Gaffigan calls it a “powerhouse” ensemble, with a diverse group of musicians from across Europe and beyond. It was formed in 2006 and has been supported by such conducting heavy-hitters as Lorin Maazel and Zubin Mehta. “It’s a high-level orchestra, and they take a lot of pride in what they do,” Gaffigan said. “So it’s exciting, and they get the greatest guest conductors. In my opinion, it’s the best orchestra in Spain by far.”

Because his wife is Norwegian, Gaffigan and his family moved to Norway during the pandemic. “I got to the know the country in a more intimate way, and I fell in love with it,” he said. He serves as principal guest conductor of Norway’s Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and Opera, commuting there as necessary from Oslo, where he and his wife have built a home. He anticipates maintaining residences in Oslo and Berlin once he begins his duties at the Komische Oper. Gaffigan also serves as principal guest conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and music director of the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra in Switzerland.

“Everything has worked out, and I’m content,” he said.

During his past CSO appearances, Gaffigan has led premieres and challenging 20th-century works such as Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 8 in C Minor and excerpts from Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet Cinderella. This time, he wanted to do something a little different. “I said, ‘Let’s just have fun. I want this to be an old-school program. I want the public to come and enjoy this. I don’t want any deep message.’ ” 

Anchoring the lineup will be two works that showcase soloist Lisa Batiashvili, whom Gaffigan describes as one of the “best living violinists today.” She will join him and the CSO for Ernest Chausson’s Poème for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 25, and Camille Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo capriccioso in A Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 28.

To complement those violin-centered selections, Gaffigan turned to pieces that made him fall in love with classical music as a youth. One is Tchaikovsky’s fantasy overture, Romeo and Juliet, a work that he conducted when he made his debut in his early 20s as assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. “To hear the Chicago Symphony play a piece like that, it’s a gift,” he said. Rounding out the program is Rimsky-Korsakov’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s A Night on Bald Mountain and Saint-Saëns’ Baccahanale from Samson and Delilah.

“This is very much the kind of program you would hear back in the ’50s — not the typical overture, concerto and symphony,” Gaffigan said. “It’s a mixed bag, but it’s a balanced mixed bag. I think it’s going to be fun.”

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