Antonio Pappano

Antonio Pappano (born 30 December 1959) is a British conductor and pianist of Italian origin currently serving as music director at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and l'Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Biography

Pappano was born in Epping, England to a family having its origins in Castelfranco in Miscano, near Benevento, Italy. When he was 13 years old, he moved with his family to Connecticut, in the United States. After musical training in piano, composition, and conducting, he became a rehearsal accompanist at the New York City Opera by the age of 21.cite news | author=Anna Picard | title=Antonio Pappano: Local hero | url=http://arts.independent.co.uk/music/features/article2035338.ece | work=The Independent | date=2006-12-03 | accessdate=2007-09-07] Pappano is the youngest conductor to lead the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in London, accompanying both the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet.

Career

A pianist as well as a conductor, he attracted the attention of fellow pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, with whose assistance he became at the Bayreuth Festival. [cite news | author=Rupert Christiansen | title=High octane, high hopes | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2002/09/02/bmpap02.xml | work=The Telegraph | date=2002-09-02 | accessdate=2007-09-07] He worked in Barcelona and Frankfurt, and served as an assistant to Michael Gielen. [cite news | author=Peter Conrad | title=Lightning conductor | url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,900794,00.html | work=The Observer | date=2003-02-23 | accessdate=2007-09-07] In 1990 he was made musical director of the Den Norske Opera after his conducting debut there in 1987. His role as Sjefdirigent has been taken by Olaf Henzold.

In 1992, at the age of 32, Pappano became music director of La Monnaie, the Belgian Royal Opera House, a post he held until 2002, but meanwhile in 1999, he was appointed to his current position as music director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden that began with the September 2002 season. His current contract at Covent Garden is through 2012.cite news | author=Rupert Christiansen | title=Antonio Pappano: the unstoppable maestro | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/09/08/bmpappano108.xml | work=The Observer | date=2008-09-08 | accessdate=2008-09-08] He has also been principal guest conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also conducted at the English National Opera (ENO), the Metropolitan Opera (1997) the San Francisco Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Berlin Staatsoper.

Recently he has been working his way through the Ring Cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen" by Richard Wagner, with stars that have included Plácido Domingo, but, with the Covent Garden orchestra and chorus, he has also conducted a new David McVicar staging of Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" from the harpsichord to widespread acclaim. His reputation as accessible yet charismatic and as someone who can work with even the most demanding prima donnas is helping him to build a formidable reputation in London and the opera world.

In 2005, Antonio Pappano became music director of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and regularly conducts the London Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Pappano is married to Pam Bulloch, a vocal coach.

Recordings

*Philippe Boesmans: "Wintermärchen"
*Jules Massenet: "Manon", "Werther"
*Giacomo Puccini: "Il Trittico", "La Bohème", "La Rondine", "Tosca"
*Giuseppe Verdi: "Don Carlo", "Il Trovatore"
*Richard Wagner: "Tristan und Isolde"

References

ources

Maeckelbergh, Lucrèce, "Antonio Pappano: Con Passione". Snoeck, 2006 (ISBN 9053495274).

External links

* [http://www.imgartists.com/?page=artist&id=234 Full Biography] at IMG Artists
* [http://info.royaloperahouse.org/Opera/index.cfm?ccs=613 Antonio Pappano biography] at Royal Opera House Covent Garden
* [http://www.emiclassics.co.uk/search_new.php?q=pappano Antonio Pappano recordings on EMI Classics]
* [http://bridgeport.ct.schoolwebpages.com/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=22793 Web page on Pappano from Bridgeport Central High School]