Maestro quits IMG
mainAskonas Holt have signed James Gaffigan, American chief conductor of the Lucerne Symphony, securing him dates in the next season with Chicago, Philadelphia and the Met.
Gaffigan, 38, was previously listed with Nick Mathias at IMG.
Boring signing
Very good performance @ Juilliard Orchestra a couple of years ago.
150cm of mediocrity
Do Askonas Holt ever take on young conductors with whom they can develop? All they seem to do is take mid-level/established conductors from other agencies.
Daniel Harding for more than two decades. And I just spotted Karina Canellakis in their website.
Not a maestro at all. Just again someone who got a lot of chances ,what already 25 years was unthinkable that all this “youngsters” were conducting in no time the Concertgebouw or the Berlin Phil! Just an average conductor….
I’ve heard Gaffigan conduct the Cleveland Orchestra several times and also saw him conduct CityMusic Cleveland (local professional group) many times. I found him WAY better than average in comparison to many of the conductors we hear in Cleveland.
I share your respect for James Gaffigan, thought I judgie from an admittedly very small sample, I am impressed. He conducts beautifully the Tchaikovsky 1st concerto in a recording with Kirill Gerstein. I find the phrasing of the Tchaikovsky’s first theme full of character.
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