‘I feel enormously privileged to be starting the 2023/24 season as Chief Conductor Designate with the LSO. For a conductor, this is a dream position. I’m really very, very excited indeed.
So you come in with a whole raft of ideas and ‘no, we just did that’, ‘no, we’re doing that next year’ – there’s a lot of that. And then you find a groove and you find your repertoire. And what that means for me is many things, actually. From the person I am – I was born in England, grew up here until I was 13, moved to the States, Italian heritage, studied French, learned German, and have been in the opera field for many, many years – I have a lot of threads that are pulling at me, whether they be dramaturgical or musical or cultural. I think that you have to tap into these things, because that’s what will ultimately define you. It’s not about finding the next new thing for me. I want to do things that I really, really love – and, the hope is, that the Orchestra will really love with me.
I worked with the LSO for the first time in 1996, at Abbey Road Studio Number One. We were recording an opera. I’ll never forget putting down the first downbeat, and the Orchestra just exploding with activity and panache and derring-do. I thought I’d just gotten into a Ferrari and pushed the gas pedal down.
But it’s more than that. There’s an emotional intelligence that the Orchestra has. Two words from the conductor of guidance, explanation, and they’re off. They know exactly what the job is. I think this combination of virtuosity and intuitiveness – and, of course, incredible musicality, the incredible musicality of each member – put those ingredients together and you have something that is very, very special. And justly recognised in the world as so.
I’ve always had a very close relationship since then with the Orchestra. But I want that relationship to deepen. They know me very well. But I would like them to get to know different parts of me. And I hope I surprise them. I know they’ll surprise me, that’s for sure. Because they have that ability that they can do anything.
And hopefully, without talking too much, but just by giving hints, I can maybe get everybody to understand how I think and how I believe the journey going forward will look, and that we can share that together. And of course, eventually and inevitably, it’s the choice of repertoire that will excite them. But it’s also the way we perform that repertoire. The hope is that through the number of concerts in London and elsewhere on tour and throughout the world (because let’s not forget, the LSO is one of the major touring orchestras), that we can forge a personality that is really recognised as a personality, and not just a decent conductor conducting a great orchestra. This is my great hope, that we forge something that is identifiable as a brand.’
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Explore: More from Pappano
Features, videos, concerts and recordings.
Read: The 2023/24 Season with Pappano
Watch: Pappano conducts Strauss
2024/25 Concerts with Pappano
Half Six Fix: Berlioz
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 21 May 2025 • 6.30pm
Kick-start your evening with a 60-minute Half Six Fix concert, delving into the musical imagination of Hector Berlioz. Introduced by the performers, with screens in the hall to bring you closer to the action.
Limited Tickets
Szymanowski and Symphonie fantastique
LSO Artist Portrait: Lisa Batiashvili
Thursday 22 May 2025 • 7pm
Dreams and fantasies from enigmatic Szymanowski, in his Violin Concerto, to Berlioz’s most rock’n’roll work, the Symphonie fantastique.
Mozart and Strauss Ein Heldenleben
LSO Artist Portrait: Lisa Batiashvili
Sunday 25 May 2025 • 7pm
Two portraits from a magician of orchestral colour, Richard Strauss – plus a young Mozart dances on the violin, in his Fifth Violin Concerto.
Strauss' Salome
Sir Antonio Pappano
Friday 11 July 2025 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano conducts a concert performance of Strauss’ scandalous opera Salome, with the brilliant soprano Asmik Grigorian in the title role.
Limited Tickets
Strauss' Salome
Sir Antonio Pappano
Sunday 13 July 2025 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano conducts a concert performance of Strauss’ scandalous opera Salome, with the brilliant soprano Asmik Grigorian in the title role.
Season Opening: Bernstein and Copland
Sir Antonio Pappano
Sunday 14 September 2025 • 7pm
Dramatic, emotionally intense American symphonies, to start the 2025/26 season: Bernstein's 'Kaddish' and Copland's Symphony No 3, with Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano on the podium.
Half Six Fix: Copland
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 17 September 2025 • 6.30pm
Kick-start your evening with a 60-minute Half Six Fix concert. Sir Antonio Pappano introduces and conducts Copland's Third Symphony, with screens in the hall to bring you closer to the action.
Prokofiev and Beethoven
Seong-Jin Cho: Artist Portrait
Thursday 18 September 2025 • 7pm
Beethoven’s defiant Symphony No 5 meets the sneering mockery of Shostakovich and Prokofiev in exhilarating mood. Sir Antonio Pappano conducts, as pianist Seong-Jin Cho begins his Artist Portrait series.
Britten and Shostakovich
Sir Antonio Pappano and Janine Jansen
Sunday 21 September 2025 • 7pm
Violinist Janine Jansen showcases Britten’s soulful concerto before the LSO launches into Shostakovich’s scathing criticism of Stalin, his Tenth Symphony.
Tchaikovsky and Vaughan Williams
Antoine Tamestit: Spotlight Artist
Sunday 7 December 2025 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Tchaikovsky’s powerful Fourth Symphony and Vaughan Williams’ pastoral beauty. Antoine Tamestit’s spellbinding viola and the London Symphony Chorus elevate the experience.
Half Six Fix: Vaughan Williams
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 10 December 2025 • 6.30pm
Kick-start your evening with this 60-minute Half Six Fix concert, showcasing two contemplative works by Vaughan Williams. Introduced by the performers, with screens in the hall to bring you closer to the action.
Musgrave, Walton and Vaughan Williams
Antoine Tamestit: Spotlight Artist
Thursday 11 December 2025 • 7pm
Thea Musgrave paints with radiant colours, Walton gives flight to the viola, and Vaughan Williams dreams of London in this concert, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano.
