“I am not a candidate for the Paris Opera”

He was the musical director of the Royal Opera House in London for twenty-two years. Antonio Pappano officially succeeds Sir Simon Rattle this week as head of the London Symphony Orchestra, with which he will perform on September 16 at the Philharmonie de Paris as part of the Mahler Perspectives weekend. A turning point for this figure in the English musical world, who has also just finished his term as head of the orchestra of the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome, after eighteen years of good and loyal service.

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LE FIGARO. – Before meeting you in Paris with the London Symphony Orchestra, we were able to hear you this summer at the Verbier Festival where you conducted the festival’s youth orchestra. What does such an accomplished conductor gain from such an experience?

Antonio Pappano –Oxygen (laughs)! When you are in contact with great professionals such as the musicians of Covent Garden or the London Symphony Orchestra, these meetings with…