Sir Antonio Pappano
Features, videos, recordings and concerts with our Chief Conductor Designate
Sir Antonio Pappano is our Chief Conductor Designate from September 2023, and will become Chief Conductor in September 2024. 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 will hold 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 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!’
Videos
Concerts
LSO Artist Portrait: Bertrand Chamayou
Available from 9 May
Sir Antonio Pappano conducts the LSO in Vaughan Williams' Symphony No 5, a work that reaches for hope in the midst of war. And the Orchestra is joined by Bertrand Chamayou – in his Artist Portrait series – for Ravel's playful Piano Concerto in G major.
Springtime Romance – Boulanger, Barber, Rachmaninoff
Available from 19 April
Sir Antonio Pappano conducts the LSO in Lili Boulanger’s lively tone poem, D’un matin de printemps, and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No 2. Janine Jansen is soloist for Barber's Violin Concerto.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin & Joyce DiDonato
On Tour in Baden-Baden
Tuesday 16 July 2024 • 7pm
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the London Symphony Orchestra alongside mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato on tour in Baden-Baden.
Summer at Snape
Sir Antonio Pappano & Vilde Frang
Friday 23 August 2024 • 7pm
An exhilarating evening of Elgar and Sibelius at Snape Maltings with superstar violinist Vilde Frang, conducted by Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano.
Season Opening: MacMillan and Sibelius 1
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 11 September 2024 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano opens a new chapter as Chief Conductor of the LSO, conjuring stunning landscapes from Nielsen and Sibelius – and a world premiere by Sir James MacMillan.
Elgar and Holst The Planets
Sir Antonio Pappano and Vilde Frang
Thursday 12 September 2024 • 7pm
Two giants of British music, and two blistering orchestral works from the early 20th century. Sir Antonio Pappano begins his first season as Chief Conductor of the LSO, joined by Vilde Frang for Elgar's Violin Concerto.
Rachmaninoff and Saint-Saëns 'Organ' Symphony
Sir Antonio Pappano, Yuja Wang and Anna Lapwood
Sunday 15 September 2024 • 7pm
Berlioz goes to a Roman Carnival, Saint-Saëns gives a Symphony from the organ loft, and Serge Rachmaninoff sings the blues in his Fourth Piano Concerto. Sir Antonio Pappano continues his first season as Chief Conductor, joined by Anna Lapwood and Yuja Wang.
Bartók and Mahler 1
Sir Antonio Pappano and Yuja Wang
Thursday 19 September 2024 • 7pm
A celebration of rhythm in Béla Bartók’s vibrant Second Piano Concerto, while Gustav Mahler embraces the earth in his brilliant, bold First Symphony. Sir Antonio Pappano continues his opening concerts as Chief Conductor, joined by soloist Yuja Wang.
Puccini La rondine
Sir Antonio Pappano
Tuesday 10 December 2024 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano conducts a concert performance of La rondine, Puccini’s story of love thwarted by society’s conventions, an opera glowing with melody and orchestral colour.
Puccini La rondine
Sir Antonio Pappano
Thursday 12 December 2024 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano conducts a concert performance of La rondine, Puccini’s story of love thwarted by society’s conventions, an opera glowing with melody and orchestral colour.
Recordings
Reviews
‘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
‘This energising blast of a concert … demonstrated that a long-established artistic relationship is heating up nicely ahead of the official September 2024 start date.’ ★★★★ The Times, Feb 2023
