Interview with Sir Antonio Pappano

On his background in the opera house.

‘My work as an opera conductor over many years has, no question, influenced the way I approach music. I try to find the drama in any kind of music. The story doesn’t have to be specific, it can be in the imagination of the listener. Some music has a very clear programme, but you need to be able to translate that into sound and make it evocative, like the greatest film music.

Being on the concert platform is perhaps a purer experience [than conducting opera]. You’re dealing with just the music, and it’s as if you’re looking in the mirror and you’re being asked by your inner-self. There are no words, no costumes, no theatre, it’s just the music. How can you translate that to the audience? I think for me, that’s the experience that I want to deepen over the next few years, and this is why the relationship with the LSO is so important.’

I try to find the drama in any kind of music.

On the essential qualities for a great conductor.

‘A great conductor is someone who can do the technical work necessary with a group of musicians but is also the best kind of teacher; somebody who helps you to think and make connections to many different things, but also inspires you to give your best.

You have to keep surprising your audiences and your musicians, and that keeps everything very fresh and exciting. In the rehearsal room, you have to be passionate, but you also have to trust your musicians, and you have to be specific about what you want.’

On the relationship between a conductor and an orchestra.

‘The relationship between a conductor and an orchestra is based on mutual respect, honesty, past experiences, a sense of responsibility towards the audiences that we’re performing for, and a sense of responsibility towards the music.

We have something very precious in our hands. We have something that is a historical artifact, or it could be a new piece of music, where we have to be the best salespeople for that piece of music, so it’s a huge honour to do what we do. But it’s something that together in collaboration – conductor and orchestra – we have to share that sense of mission as performers, teachers and salespeople.

A concert should be a visceral experience. It should be an emotional experience for the person who’s paid money to come and see that concert. When that music is delivered and it hits the listener, that is something that should be felt in the pit of their stomach.’

On following his passion for music.

‘I was very, very lucky that, at the age of twelve, I knew that music was going to be my life. Having Italian parents, growing up in England, moving to America as a teenager, speaking French and German … Those parts of me speak every day, whether I’m in front of the London Symphony Orchestra or preparing an opera with all German or Italian singers. You have to be the best of who you are, but you have to be specifically who you are.’

On working with the LSO.

‘I’m going to be putting a very strong accent on British music with LSO, especially at the beginning of my tenure as Chief Conductor, but in contrast or in tandem with pieces with which I have a relationship, or pieces that are influenced by (or have influenced) British music in the past.

I think I have a certain responsibility, as Chief Conductor, to touch many different kinds of repertoire. Having the background that I do, of course I will do English music, but I will also do American music, Italian music, and will continue to conduct opera in concert form.

The London Symphony Orchestra has a very special motor.  Something that’s related to the amount of energy, excitement, and sheer communicability of whatever they touch. They’re explosive in their expressive nature. This, together with their emotional intelligence – their ability to take just a few suggestions and turn it into something that is complex and deeply human – is something for me that I haven’t experienced (to the degree that I experience it with the LSO) with any other orchestra. I am hoping to focus that energy and that excitement in different areas of the repertoire.’