Sir Antonio Pappano
Features, videos, recordings and concerts with our Chief Conductor.
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 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
Kirill Gerstein & Friends
Stream on BBC Sounds
Pianist Kirill Gerstein curates an early-evening chamber concert celebrating four centuries of musical mavericks, as part of his Spotlight Artist series with the LSO.
Half Six Fix: Walton
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 5 February 2025 • 6.30pm
Kick-start your evening with a 60-minute Half Six Fix concert, introduced by the performers, with screens in the hall to bring you closer to the action.
Walker, Bernstein and Walton 1
Sir Antonio Pappano and Janine Jansen
Thursday 6 February 2025 • 7pm
Walton’s turbulent first Symphony, and a pair of passionate statements of love and outrage from two American greats. Sir Antonio Pappano conducts, joined by violinist Janine Jansen.
Maconchy, Walton and Vaughan Williams 1
Sir Antonio Pappano and Rebecca Gilliver
Sunday 9 February 2025 • 7pm
Evocative portraits of night and the sea in an all-British programme: enigmatic Maconchy, meditative Walton, and awe-inspiring Vaughan Williams, in his 'Sea Symphony'.
Half Six Fix: Vaughan Williams
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 12 February 2025 • 6.30pm
Kick-start your evening with a 60-minute Half Six Fix concert, focused on Vaughan Williams' 'Sea Symphony'. Introduced by the performers, with screens in the hall to bring you closer to the action.
On Tour in Bristol
Sir Antonio Pappano and Rebecca Gilliver
Thursday 13 February 2025 • 7pm
A rich and evocative programme on tour at Bristol Beacon. Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Walton's Cello Concerto and Mahler's First Symphony, with Rebecca Gilliver as soloist.
On Tour in Santa Barbara
Sir Antonio Pappano and Janine Jansen
Tuesday 18 February 2025 • 7.30pm
Music by Bernstein and Mahler on tour in Santa Barbara, with Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano and soloist Janine Jansen.
On Tour in Palm Springs
Sir Antonio Pappano and Janine Jansen
Wednesday 19 February 2025 • 7.30pm
On tour in California, Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano is joined by soloist Janine Jansen for a programme of Walker, Mendelssohn and Mahler.
On Tour in Costa Mesa
Sir Antonio Pappano and Yunchan Lim
Thursday 20 February 2025 • 8pm
The London Symphony Orchestra visits the Renée & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, under the leadership of Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, joined by soloist Yunchan Lim.
On Tour in San Diego
Sir Antonio Pappano and Yunchan Lim
Friday 21 February 2025 • 8pm
Music by Rachmaninoff and Mahler on tour in San Diego, with Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano and soloist Yunchan Lim.
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
