Sir Antonio Pappano: The genesis of his story

‘In the way that Sir Antonio envisions music and puts it into words with such passion and charisma that everyone can understand, he reaches out to people who would perhaps usually not be so interested.’ Violinist and conductor Roberto Gonazeles-Monjas, former concert master of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, is one of the many instrumentalists, singers, orchestral players and audience members who have been thrilled and inspired not only by the electrifying music-making but also the inspirational musical explanations of conductor Sir Antonio Pappano.

Indeed, several years ago a neighbour of mine who had never been interested in classical music became an opera lover virtually overnight after I showed him a YouTube clip of Pappano introducing Puccini’s Manon Lescaut to an enthralled audience at the Royal Opera House. Now, he cannot wait to buy the Maestro’s new book, Sir Antonio Pappano: My Life in Music. After 22 glorious years at the helm of the Royal Opera House and two equally lauded decades leading the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Pappano now moves into a new chief conductor era that the London Symphony Orchestra and its audiences are anticipating with excitement.

©Musacchio & Ianniello licensed to EMI Classics

In discussing his life from childhood to today, Sir Antonio has undertaken a truly massive task in his book: massive on account of the panoramic range both of his experience and also his artistic and humanist agendas. Written with the compellingly colourful brilliance that has garnered such a large following to his television and YouTube presentations, his story is told as, to quote Faber & Faber’s information ‘a passionate memoir exploring classical music, its restorative qualities and wider cultural influence’. The venture has been on his mind for a very long time, although, as he explains, unexpected circumstances finally enabled it to happen: ‘I have always harboured a desire to write a book, but I never imagined I would find the time to do it. Then the Pandemic reared its ugly head and gave all of us space in a way that I never believed would happen in my lifetime. That said, most of the actual writing of the book took place when I was already back working, but the groundwork and stimulation with our discussions had taken place during lockdown, so my brain had been jogged to think – and to think back sometimes.’

From the start of the preliminary discussions Sir Antonio refers to here his vision was graphic, total, and scrupulously pinpoint, and the result, with each and every word meticulously written entirely by him, is, as Daniel Barenboim comments, ‘mesmerising’. Pappano writes with all the exhilarating attributes of both his conducting and his speaking and – as in all that he does – he is possessed by the love of communicating. ‘For me it was very important to try and reach out not just to young conductors but also to other musicians of any and every stripe and age. I have done a lot in my career, I have made some mistakes, which I talk about in the book, so I warn and encourage and try to help people not make mistakes I have made. I also stand up for what I think are my values in my work, and I think that’s important. I’m old enough not to be of the TikTok age and as I go back rather a long way I have a different perspective about many things. I think there are certain rules, or yardsticks maybe, about making music, in the theatre and the concert hall, and the respect for the material that goes along with that. With this I’m also talking about the necessity for passionate collaboration and analysing the other peoples’ fantasy and creativity as well as my own. That’s an important part of the book for me.’

©Musacchio & Ianniello licensed to EMI Classics

The vast and diverse spectrum of the ‘other people’ embraces a mammoth roll-call of celebrated musical names of the last half century – and going back even earlier, as Sir Antonio was profoundly immersed in music from childhood (although not at all in the elite ‘advantaged’ way one might assume). ‘Of course, I talk about my youth and how I grew up in a family where my parents were immigrants – and how that’s a big part of who I am and why I am the workhorse that I am. Maybe ‘workaholic’ would be a better word, but I am using a farming term because my parents come of peasant stock. I have been in a world that has nothing to do with that, but the moral and work ethic values of my parents and their background are very much part of what I do and always have done – and so in the book this is part of my wanting to connect with a wide range of people on a lot of subjects: even though, of course, my focus is music.’

That focus includes vivid and profoundly enlightening discussion of some of Sir Antonio’s expansively wide repertoire. Audiences to his LSO concerts at the Barbican Centre will be treated in spades to that, as well as his thrilling conducting, as he will be presenting many of the Half-Six Fix events. Although they were initiated before the coming about of his tenure, the series could almost have been conceived specifically for him. ‘At half-past six in the evening, people come in after work and we give them a short one-hour concert with usually just one work that’s also discussed by the conductor or the players – and there’s a big screen for images too. Depending on the length of the piece, I chat about it and try and elucidate what makes the music special, while also pointing out details to listen for. I am really looking forward to doing this with a lot of different repertoire as I do love talking to people about music – give me a microphone and I’ll go at it, and that’s because I think it’s part of the conductor’s job. I talk about this in the book – how the conductor is also there to educate and be a cheerleader for that which we are performing. Sometimes there isn’t a cultural connection in an audience and you have to help people along, and give them a few pointers. There’s nothing wrong in that, as maybe people don’t have certain information – so open the door, let people in, give them clues, and you’d be surprised: they don’t need much, just a little bit, and it’s all there.’

And it’s there in volumes in Sir Antonio’s memoir: an impassioned and panoptic advocacy of classical music’s unique value and importance in the lives of mankind.

Sir Antonio Pappano’s autobiography, My Life in Music, will be published by Faber & Faber on 6 June.