Sir Antonio Pappano is our Chief Conductor. He first collaborated with the Orchestra in 1996 at Abbey Road Studios for a recording of Puccini’s opera La rondine, and we have worked together regularly since then.
‘I’ll never forget the first down beat, when the orchestra just exploded with activity and panache and derring-do,’ recalls Pappano. ‘It felt like I’d gotten into a Ferrari and pushed the gas pedal down!’
Sir Antonio Pappano became Music Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 2002, a position he held until the end of the 2023/24 season, and was Music Director of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome between 2005 and 2023. In 2012 he was made a Knight of the British Empire for his services to music, and in 2015 he was named the 100th recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Gold Medal, the body’s highest honour.
News & Stories
Sir Antonio Pappano: The 2025/26 Season
Sir Antonio Pappano begins his second season as Chief Conductor of the LSO, with works from British and American composers amongst the highlights.
Sir Antonio Pappano: The 2024/25 Season
Our Chief Conductor introduces his 2024/25 season, from brand new works to British symphonies and opera classics.
Pappano: My relationship with the LSO
‘I’ve always had a very close relationship with the Orchestra. But I want that relationship to deepen. I hope I surprise them. I know they’ll surprise me.’
Pappano: 'That's what a conductor is, you are serving the music'
Sir Antonio Pappano discusses what it means to be a conductor, and his own personal conducting style.
Sir Antonio Pappano: The 2023/24 Season
‘I worked with the LSO for the first time in 1996, at Abbey Road Studios, to record an opera. I’ll never forget the first down beat, when the orchestra just exploded with activity and panache and derring-do. It felt like I’d gotten into a Ferrari and pushed the gas pedal down!’
Press Release: LSO appoints Sir Antonio Pappano as Chief Conductor
Videos
Concerts
Golden Age Hollywood and Beyond
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 17 December 2025 • 7pm
From Ben Hur and Gone with the Wind to The Godfather and Cinema Paradiso, Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano and the LSO celebrate the sounds of Hollywood's Golden Age and other classic scores.
Golden Age Hollywood and Beyond
Sir Antonio Pappano
Thursday 18 December 2025 • 7pm
From Ben Hur and Gone with the Wind to The Godfather and Cinema Paradiso, Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano and the LSO celebrate the sounds of Hollywood's Golden Age and other classic scores.
Half Six Fix: Shostakovich 5
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 15 April 2026 • 6.30pm
Kick-start your evening with this 60-minute Half Six Fix concert, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano. Introduced by the performers, with screens in the hall to bring you closer to the action.
Holst, Korngold and Shostakovich
Sir Antonio Pappano and Vilde Frang
Thursday 16 April 2026 • 7pm
The exceptional Vilde Frang performs Korngold's sweeping and cinematic Violin Concerto whilst Shostakovich’s Fifth unleashes its big tunes and white-hot intensity.
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
Sir Antonio Pappano
Sunday 19 April 2026 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano, the LSO, and the London Symphony Chorus bring Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius to life – a powerful oratorio filled with drama, beauty, angels and demons.
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
Sir Antonio Pappano
Tuesday 21 April 2026 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano, the LSO, and the London Symphony Chorus bring Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius to life—a powerful oratorio filled with drama, beauty, angels and demons.
Britten, Bernstein and Tchaikovsky
Sir Antonio Pappano and Beatrice Rana
Sunday 10 May 2026 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano and the LSO and Italian pianist Beatrice Rana navigate beauty, grief, and turmoil with Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem, Bernstein’s The Age of Anxiety, and Tchaikovsky’s haunting Pathétique.
Half Six Fix: Enigma Variations
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 10 June 2026 • 6.30pm
Sir Antonio Pappano guides the audience through Elgar's 'Enigma' Variations, exploring its tender portraits of family members and the unsolved mystery at its core.
Elgar and Mahler
Sir Antonio Pappano
Thursday 11 June 2026 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano and the LSO journey from darkness to light in Mahler's rapturous Fifth Symphony, alongside Elgar's Enigma Variations.
On Tour in Prague
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 17 June 2026 • 7.30pm — Friday 19 June 2026 • 7.30pm
Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem and Mahler's Fifth Symphony, on tour with the LSO in Prague.
Recordings
Reviews
‘I can’t remember hearing [Britten’s War Requiem] make so powerful an impact as it did in this stupendous Prom performance conducted by Antonio Pappano … the London Symphony Orchestra played with phenomenal virtuosity.’
★★★★★ Richard Morrison, The Times, Aug 2024
‘Pappano leads the LSO with terrifying finesse for Coleridge-Taylor, Strauss and Liszt works, in anticipation of his new role as chief conductor in 2024.’ ★★★★ The Guardian, Feb 2023
‘Pappano brought to this irresistible epic simply everything: invaluable detail, supercharged rhythms, precipitous drama, a larger-than-life tale gloriously paced and fabulously played. If this is the LSO’s future, bring it on.’ ★★★★★ inews, Feb 2023
