Opera World writes: “In the pit, the maestro Gaffigan, Music Director of the theater, successfully conducted the ever-more-excellent Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana.”
“[The strings section] was magnificent: refined, powerful, adaptable and balanced with the voices in every moment.”
Scherzo writes: “From the hand of Massenet and guided by James Gaffigan’s effective and complicit baton, [Lisette Oropesa] was the sole protagonist of a flawless function, but it was the sound of a brilliant, adaptable and idiomatic pit that was truly moving, defended by an Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana that was full of colors, registers and resounding passion.”
“Gaffigan, who already directed this same production in the Paris Opera in February 2022, made the pit sing and signed off on one of his best nights in Valencia with a direction full of colors, nuances and those fragrances and subtleties that are the mark of Massenet’s very French music”
“The New York maestro listened to and guided the voices, and, along with his musicians, perfectly generated an opulent symphonic sound that did not overshadow nor rival the singers, something that is particularly praiseworthy when one directs in a place with such brilliant acoustics as the Sala Principal at Les Arts. Applauses and bravos resounded at the end of a long and pleasant function”
ABC Cultura writes: “Gaffigan looks at Manon head on, constructing a robust and honorable version, demystifying its own nature and transforming the opera into an object that unfolds without a hitch.”
El País writes: “James Gaffigan returned to be absolutely compelling at the head of the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana.”
ÓperaActual writes: “James Gaffigan once again demonstrated his great artistic and technical qualities with a brilliant and precise interpretation. His reading was fresh and coloristic, almost as if it was about Manon’s own reflection in the mirror, an image that breaks in the final act. An opera like this one is ideal for the Orquesta de la Comunitat as it allows the soloists to shine just as much as the orchestra in its ensemble, which sounded brilliant and replete with nuances.”
