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
On Tour in Saffron Walden
Sir Antonio Pappano and Denis Kozhukhin
Saturday 9 May 2026 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano and the LSO explore beauty, grief, and conflict with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 3 and Tchaikovsky’s searing Pathétique.
Britten, Bernstein and Tchaikovsky
Sir Antonio Pappano and Denis Kozhukhin
Sunday 10 May 2026 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano and the LSO and pianist Denis Kozhukhin navigate beauty, grief, and turmoil with Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem, Bernstein’s The Age of Anxiety, and Tchaikovsky’s haunting Pathétique. NB: Change of Artist.
Limited Tickets
On Tour in Bristol
Sir Simon Rattle and Lucy Crowe
Friday 29 May 2026 • 7pm
Lucy Crowe joins the LSO and Sir Simon Rattle for Mahler's Symphony No 4, alongside beautiful late songs by Richard Strauss.
On Tour in Paris
Sir Simon Rattle and Lucy Crowe
Sunday 31 May 2026 • 7pm
Lucy Crowe joins the LSO and Sir Simon Rattle for Mahler's Symphony No 4, alongside beautiful late works by Richard Strauss.
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.
BMW Classics 2026
A free open-air concert in the heart of London
Saturday 13 June 2026 • 4pm
The LSO and Sir Antonio Pappano give a free open-air concert in Trafalgar Square, with music by Holst and Elgar, plus a world premiere by Louise Drewett.
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.
On Tour in Litomyšl
Sir Antonio Pappano
Saturday 20 June 2026 • 5pm
Sir Antonio Pappano and the LSO explore beauty, grief and conflict on tour in Litomyšl with Tchaikovsky’s searing Pathétique, alongside Elgar's Enigma Variations.
Wagner: Tristan and Isolde
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 1 July 2026 • 5pm
Sir Antonio Pappano leads world-class soloists and the LSO in one of the greatest and most intense of operatic love stories – Wagner's Tristan and Isolde.
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
