Esteban Batallán ecstatic to fulfill a lifelong dream — his CSO solo debut

When Esteban Batallán makes his solo debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Center on June 12-14, it will be the culmination of a lifelong dream. Actually, a dream within a dream. The orchestra’s Adolph Herseth Principal Trumpet Chair since 2019, Batallán began envisioning a place in the legendary ensemble during his childhood days in Barro, a town in Galicia, Spain, where he played in a wind band (woodwind, brass and percussion instruments) from age 9 to 18.

During that period, when Batallán was 16, he participated in his first seminar with the National Youth Orchestra of Spain. “It was the first experience I had ever had with any orchestra,” he has recalled. “We played Mahler’s First Symphony. I had no idea who Gustav Mahler was, so I went to a music store and I bought the only copy they had of that piece. It was a recording of the Chicago Symphony from 1990 by EMI under Klaus Tennstedt’s baton. When I listened to it, was astonished. The music was incredible; however, the way those people played was what surprised me the most. Sound, articulation, intonation, character — everything was simply stunning. Everything became clear to me. I absolutely wanted to play like them. I wanted to be Adolph Herseth [the CSO’s longtime principal trumpet] and play in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.”

After a brief stint with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Batallán says he’s back where he belongs and feels most at home — and not only because the CSO brass is second to none. “It makes me proud to say I’m the principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony,” he says. “I identify with the name. It’s a combination of everything: the history, the tradition, the legacy, my love for the symphony, my respect for Adolph Herseth and the whole brass section, and all these decades of great music.”

Under CSO Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti, Batallán’s upcoming Symphony Center solo turns — in Georg Philipp Telemann’s four-movement Trumpet Concerto in D Major and Michael Haydn’s two-movement Trumpet Concerto in C Major — are bookended by Michael’s older brother Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 48 (Maria Theresa) and Schubert’s Symphony No. 4 (Tragic). Both solo pieces brim with Baroque brightness and contain no small amount of complexity. Batallán, however, has chops to spare — not that he’d say so in those terms. Critics, though, have taken plenty of notice.

Describing a recent CSO performance of Mahler’s Third, New York Times critic Joshua Barone wrote that while the piece’s sheer scale makes it hard to forget, “this performance was particularly memorable for Batallán’s delivery of the famous posthorn solo in the third movement. Playing offstage, he was an invisible scene-stealer: jaw-droppingly impressive on a technical level, but also intensely moving as his pastoral calls gave way to lyrical expressions of longing and nostalgia.”

Although Batallán has ample confidence in his own musical ability, he takes every note seriously. That certainly goes for the Telemann and Haydn concerti. The former is a staple, often played and widely known. The Haydn is much more challenging, and as a result, far less frequently performed. In fact, it appears never to have been played live with a major orchestra, only recorded — most notably by Wynton Marsalis. That’s Batallán’s recollection as well.

Because the Haydn concerto’s highest notes soar above the flutes, playing in such a stratospheric register requires the utmost skill and endurance. For both concerti, Batallán will perform his own cadenzas that he wrote in 2011 (when he played the pieces in Germany) and recently refined. And both will feature his trusty Schilke piccolo trumpet, a cherished instrument that once belonged to his teacher. “They are really simple and very beautiful melodies,” Batallán says of the Telemann and Haydn compositions. “And both are very shiny and brilliant. They showcase the abilities of the instrument as well as the player.”

As the Times wrote of Batallán in its assessment of his Mahler virtuosity: “[I]t didn’t take long…to understand why any ensemble would be lucky to have him.” Chicago audiences knew that already. And they’re about to get a dazzling reminder.