Sir Antonio Pappano is one of the world’s most acclaimed conductors. He started work at the age of ten as an accompanist for his father, who worked as a singing teacher. After leading orchestras in Brussels and Oslo, Pappano was appointed as musical director of the Royal Opera House in 2002. Stepping down after 22 years leading Covent Garden, he has joined the London Symphony Orchestra as chief conductor. Antonio Pappano was knighted in 2012 and conducted the orchestra at the coronation of King Charles III in 2023. An award winning recording artist, he has conducted on over 70 live and studio albums.

Antonio Pappano tells John Wilson about his upbringing in a central London council flat, the son of Italian immigrants, and his love of music from an early age. He recalls the significance of receiving his grade 5 piano examination result by post, "a lightbulb moment” in which he realised what he wanted to do with his life. He also describes his parents' grief after the death of his baby sister, which led to the Pappano family moving to Connecticut, where Antonio continued his musical tuition under a local piano teacher called Norma Verrilli and composer Arnold Franchetti. His professional career was nurtured by conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim who employed Pappano as his assistant for six years, a period in which he learned the art of conducting. He also looks back at his 22 years leading the Royal Opera at Covent Garden and talks candidly of his concerns about the funding and championing of opera in the UK.

Producer: Edwina Pitman

Music and archive:

Puccini, Turandot, Act 1 Ah! per l’ultima volta! Liszt, Consolations S.172 for piano no.3 in D flat major; Lento placid Monteverdi, Dolci miei sospiri Gershwin, The Man I love Prokofiev, Symphony No.1 in D Major, Op.25 for two pianos Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466 I. Allegro Wagner, Das Rheingold, Act 1, Rheingold, Rheingold! Wagner, Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90, Act 3 Scene 2 O diese Sonne! Götterdämmerung, Act 3 Siegfrieds Trauermarsch Following Pappano, BBC Radio 4, September 2017 Puccini, La_Boheme, Act 1, Che gelida manina Strauss, Ariadne auf Naxos, Opera Handel, Zadok the Priest, HWV 258 Mozart, Le Nozze di Figaro, Act 3 Sull’aria che soave zeffiretto Vaughan Williams, Fantasia_on_a_Theme_by_Thomas_Tallis Ades, Three-piece Suite from Powder Her Face - Suite No.1