Sir Antonio Pappano is our Chief Conductor Designate from September 2023, and will become Chief Conductor in September 2024. 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 will hold 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
![Pappano conducting post masthead © Mark Allan Sir Antonio Pappano conducts and smiles with the LSO at the Barbican](https://images.lso.co.uk/uploads/2024/03/Pappano-2000x666-MarkAllan.jpg?resize=30%2C10&gravity)
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.
![London Symphony Orchesta logo in white displayed on black background](https://www.lso.co.uk/themes/childtheme/assets/images/lso_backup.png)
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.’
![London Symphony Orchesta logo in white displayed on black background](https://www.lso.co.uk/themes/childtheme/assets/images/lso_backup.png)
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.
![London Symphony Orchesta logo in white displayed on black background](https://www.lso.co.uk/themes/childtheme/assets/images/lso_backup.png)
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!’
Videos
Concerts
![2023-LSO-general-event-masthead-©-Tom-Lovatt](https://images.lso.co.uk/uploads/2024/04/2023-LSO-general-event-masthead--Tom-Lovatt.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
Yannick Nézet-Séguin & Joyce DiDonato
On Tour in Baden-Baden
Tuesday 16 July 2024 • 7pm
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the London Symphony Orchestra alongside mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato on tour in Baden-Baden.
![110924 Pappano event masthead C Frances Marshall A portrait photo of Sir Antonio Pappano, standing against a grey background with his arms folded.](https://images.lso.co.uk/uploads/2024/04/110924-Pappano-event-masthead-C-Frances-Marshall.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
Sir Antonio Pappano: Britten’s War Requiem
BBC Proms
Saturday 17 August 2024 • 7.30pm
Sir Antonio Pappano and London Symphony Orchestra perform Britten's War Requiem for the BBC Proms.
![Vilde Frang masthead C Marco Borggreve Vilde Frang looking to the camera and smiling, holding her violin](https://images.lso.co.uk/uploads/2024/04/Untitled-design-1-1.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
Summer at Snape
Sir Antonio Pappano & Vilde Frang
Friday 23 August 2024 • 7pm
An exhilarating evening of Elgar and Sibelius at Snape Maltings with superstar violinist Vilde Frang, conducted by Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano.
![120924 Pappano event masthead C Frances Marshall Sir Antonio Pappano photographed against a grey background, sat in a chair and looking away from the camera into the distance.](https://images.lso.co.uk/uploads/2024/04/120924-Pappano-event-masthead-C-Frances-Marshall.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
On Tour in Warsaw
Sir Antonio Pappano and Bruce Liu
Monday 26 August 2024 • 8.30pm
Sir Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra visit Warsaw as part of the Chopin & His Europe Festival, alongside pianist Bruce Liu.
![241215 Pappano event masthead C Mark Allan Sir Antonio Pappano conducting, smiling and facing the musicians of the LSO.](https://images.lso.co.uk/uploads/2024/04/151224-Pappano-event-masthead-C-Mark-Allan.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
On Tour in Warsaw
Sir Antonio Pappano and Vilde Frang
Tuesday 27 August 2024 • 8.30pm
Sir Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra visit Warsaw for the Chopin & His Europe Festival, alongside violinist Vilde Frang.
![130725 Pappano event masthead C Mark Allan Sir Antonio Pappano and LSO musicians facing the audience on the Barbican stage, at the end of a performance.](https://images.lso.co.uk/uploads/2024/04/130725-Pappano-event-masthead-C-Mark-Allan.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
On Tour in Ljubljana
Sir Antonio Pappano and Vilde Frang
Wednesday 28 August 2024 • 8pm
The London Symphony Orchestra returns to the Ljubljana Festival, led by Antonio Pappano and alongside soloist Vilde Frang.
![Vilde Frang masthead C Marco Borggreve Vilde Frang looking to the left and smiling, holding her violin](https://images.lso.co.uk/uploads/2024/04/Untitled-design-2.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
On Tour in Gstaad
Sir Antonio Pappano and Vilde Frang
Friday 30 August 2024 • 7.30pm
The London Symphony Orchestra returns to the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, led by Antonio Pappano and joined by violinist Vilde Frang.
![2024_01_AntonioPappano24__c_FrancesMarshall2203 copy Sir Antonio Pappano against a grey background, looking up towards the top right](https://images.lso.co.uk/uploads/2024/05/2024_01_AntonioPappano24__c_FrancesMarshall2203-copy-scaled.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
On Tour in Gstaad
Sir Antonio Pappano and Bertrand Chamayou
Saturday 31 August 2024 • 7.30pm
The London Symphony Orchestra returns to the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, led by Antonio Pappano and alongside pianist Bertrand Chamayou and the Kaunas State Choir.
![120924 Pappano event masthead C Frances Marshall Sir Antonio Pappano photographed against a grey background, sat in a chair and looking away from the camera into the distance.](https://images.lso.co.uk/uploads/2024/04/120924-Pappano-event-masthead-C-Frances-Marshall.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
On Tour in La Côte-Saint-André
Sir Antonio Pappano and Bertrand Chamayou
Sunday 1 September 2024 • 9pm
The London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Antonio Pappano close the Berlioz Festival in France, alongside pianist Bertrand Chamayou and the Kaunas State Choir.
![110924 Pappano event masthead C Frances Marshall A portrait photo of Sir Antonio Pappano, standing against a grey background with his arms folded.](https://images.lso.co.uk/uploads/2024/04/110924-Pappano-event-masthead-C-Frances-Marshall.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
Season Opening: MacMillan and Sibelius 1
Sir Antonio Pappano
Wednesday 11 September 2024 • 7pm
Sir Antonio Pappano opens a new chapter as Chief Conductor of the LSO, conjuring stunning landscapes from Nielsen and Sibelius – and a world premiere by Sir James MacMillan.
Recordings
Reviews
‘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
‘This energising blast of a concert … demonstrated that a long-established artistic relationship is heating up nicely ahead of the official September 2024 start date.’ ★★★★ The Times, Feb 2023