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 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
Obituary: George Fenton, 1949–2026
The LSO was saddened to hear of the passing of George Fenton
Videos
Concerts
Half Six Fix: Bruckner 9
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 21 October 2026 • 6.30pm
Kick-start your evening with this 60-minute Half Six Fix concert. Sir Antonio Pappano introduces and conducts Bruckner's Ninth Symphony, a piece that contrasts epic walls of sound with moments of aching fragility.
Limited Tickets
Mahler 2 and Fujikura
Sir Antonio Pappano
Thursday 22 October 2026 • 7pm
A celebratory new work to launch the LSO’s 2026/27 season, and an epic voyage from the depths of despair to glorious rebirth. Sir Antonio Pappano conducts the UK premiere of Dai Fujikura's Amber Alchemy, and Mahler's colossal 'Resurrection' Symphony.
Edmund Finnis and Bruckner
Sir Antonio Pappano and Sheku Kanneh-Mason
Sunday 25 October 2026 • 7pm
The quiet intensity of Edmund Finnis’ Cello Concerto, featuring soloist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, paves the way for Bruckner’s monumental, visionary Ninth Symphony.
Limited Tickets
Tchaikovsky, Kendall and Liadov
Sir Antonio Pappano and Fleur Barron
Thursday 29 October 2026 • 7pm
Liadov conjures magical landscapes while Tchaikovsky navigates anguish and triumph in his Fifth Symphony – plus the premiere of Hannah Kendall’s eagerly anticipated new work. Sir Antonio Pappano conducts, joined by mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron.
Limited Tickets
Half Six Fix: Vaughan Williams
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 25 November 2026 • 6.30pm
Sir Antonio Pappano explores Vaughan Williams’ ‘Pastoral’ Symphony and Symphony No 8, from wartime reflection to a playful, uplifting British classic.
Limited Tickets
Vaughan Williams and Beethoven
Sir Antonio Pappano and Bruce Liu
Thursday 26 November 2026 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano continues his acclaimed Vaughan Williams cycle with Symphonies 3 and 8, and is joined by Bruce Liu for Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 3.
Limited Tickets
Sibelius, Vaughan Williams and Dubugnon
Sir Antonio Pappano and Janine Jansen
Sunday 29 November 2026 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano leads Sibelius, Vaughan Williams’ Sinfonia antartica and Dubugnon’s new violin concerto in a vivid, cinematic programme with Janine Jansen.
Sibelius, Vaughan Williams and Dubugnon
Sir Antonio Pappano and Janine Jansen
Thursday 3 December 2026 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano leads Sibelius, Vaughan Williams’ Sinfonia antartica and Dubugnon’s new violin concerto in a vivid, cinematic programme with Janine Jansen.
Elgar and Tchaikovsky
Sir Antonio Pappano and Alisa Weilerstein
Thursday 18 February 2027 • 7pm
Two of classical music’s most heart-rending works – Elgar’s intimate, introspective Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s intense, emotional Fifth Symphony – with Sir Antonio Pappano and soloist Alisa Weilerstein.
Beethoven and Shostakovich
Sir Antonio Pappano and Maxim Vengerov
Sunday 21 February 2027 • 7pm
Violinist Maxim Vengerov brings elegance and majesty to Beethoven's Violin Concerto, before the unrelenting and colossal power of Shostakovich’s war-scarred Eighth Symphony.
Recordings
Reviews
‘Under Antonio Pappano, the London Symphony Orchestra rose superbly to the challenges of this epic score [Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde]. It beat watching England play football.’ ★★★★★ Richard Morrison, the Times, July 2026
‘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
