Wed, Jan 7, 2026
Once again, Antonio Pappano is coming to guest-conduct the Concertgebouw Orchestra. What’s unusual about this visit is that this born-and-bred Englishman has never conducted British music in Amsterdam before. But now he’s seizing the opportunity, and will lead Elgar’s Symphony No. 1. ‘Elgar’s musical language combines everything the British are proud of.’
Asked about the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Antonio Pappano wants to say one thing straight away: ‘I’ve always been impressed by the will of the musicians to achieve something that’s meaningful and makes sense. They have that desire at many different musical levels, and it’s equal to their level of commitment.’
We’re talking to Pappano from London, where he’s about to rehearse with his London Symphony Orchestra. He’s been their chief conductor since September 2024. Having a conversation at 9:30 in the morning about Edward Elgar, whose First Symphony he’s taking with him to Amsterdam, about the Concertgebouw Orchestra and about his love of opera is no problem.
‘Elgar’s eye for detail is inimitable’
Pappano honed his skills at the opera in Oslo, as well as at La Monnaie in Brussels, where he was given a permanent position. Appointed music director of the Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Royal Opera House in London at roughly the same time, he led both orchestras for two decades. Is his schedule more manageable now, with ‘only’ the London Symphony Orchestra (and his guest appearances, of course)? ‘Don’t I wish! The tours are longer, the schedules are intense. I don’t sit still for a moment, we’re working incredibly hard.’ And as if that’s not enough: Pappano is also a gifted pianist, regularly accompanying some of the world’s greatest singers including Joyce DiDonato and Ian Bostridge.
Elgar’s grandeur
Antonio Pappano – ‘Tony’ to anyone in his London circle – will conduct Elgar’s First Symphony in Amsterdam. The orchestra has only performed the piece three times before, the very first in 1919, with Elgar himself conducting. It was not picked up again until 1983, by Colin Davis, then Roger Norrington in 1998. The fourth, and the fourth Brit as well, is Pappano.