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.’
Videos
Concerts
On Tour in Ljubljana
Sir Antonio Pappano and Bruce Liu
Wednesday 2 September 2026 • 8pm
Bruce Liu performs Beethoven's majestic Third Piano Concerto before Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Anton Bruckner’s monumental, visionary symphonic statement on tour in Ljubljana.
On Tour in Ljubljana
Sir Antonio Pappano
Thursday 3 September 2026 • 8pm
A profound exploration of life, death and transcendence, Mahler’s Symphony No 2 combines lyrical intimacy with overwhelming dramatic power on tour in Ljubljana.
On Tour in Bonn
Sir Antonio Pappano
Friday 4 September 2026 • 7.30pm
Sir Antonio Pappano summons the Orchestra’s full might for a grand symphonic celebration of music by Beethoven and Bruckner on tour in Bonn.
On Tour in Bonn
Sir Antonio Pappano and Vilde Frang
Saturday 5 September 2026 • 7.30pm
Norwegian superstar violinist Vilde Frang performs Beethoven’s deeply moving Violin Concerto while Sir Antonio Pappano leads Tchaikovsky's anguished and triumph-filled Fifth Symphony on tour in Bonn.
On Tour in Beijing
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 16 September 2026 • 7.30pm
LSO Leader Benjamin Marquise Gilmore and LSO Principal Viola Eivind Ringstad perform Mozart's joyous Sinfonia concertante before Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Anton Bruckner’s monumental Symphony No 9.
On Tour in Beijing
Sir Antonio Pappano and Bruce Liu
Thursday 17 September 2026 • 7.30pm
Bruce Liu joins the LSO and Sir Antonio Pappano for Beethoven’s majestic Third Piano Concerto, and Shostakovich’s Fifth unleashes big tunes and white-hot intensity.
On Tour in Beijing
Sir Antonio Pappano and Bruce Liu
Friday 18 September 2026 • 7.30pm
Liadov conjures magical landscapes while Tchaikovsky navigates anguish and triumph in his Fifth Symphony. Bruce Liu joins the LSO and Sir Antonio Pappano on tour in Beijing for Prokofiev's virtuosic Piano Concerto No 3.
On Tour in Jiangsu
Sir Antonio Pappano & Bruce Liu
Sunday 20 September 2026 • 7.30pm
Sir Antonio Pappano, Bruce Liu and the LSO perform works by Liadov, Prokofiev and Shostakovich at the Jiangsu Centre for the Performing Arts
On Tour in Shanghai
Sir Antonio Pappano and Bruce Liu
Tuesday 22 September 2026 • 7.30pm
Music by Liadov, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Brahms with Sir Antonio Pappano, Bruce Liu and the London Symphony Orchestra.
On Tour in Shanghai
Sir Antonio Pappano and Bruce Liu
Wednesday 23 September 2026 • 7pm
Music by Liadov, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Brahms with Sir Antonio Pappano, Bruce Liu and the London Symphony Orchestra.
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
