NEW YORK (AP) — Antonio Pappano has gone underground since leaving The Royal Opera for the London Symphony Orchestra.
“Now, more often than not, I take the Tube, which I never did when I was at the opera house because I had a car service,” he said. “This is a more streamlined organization, if you like.”
A 65-year-old conductor who was Covent Garden’s music director from 2002-24, Pappano succeeded Simon Rattle as the LSO’s chief conductor last September and has a quick commute from his home in Hampstead to the LSO's Barbican Centre base. He is leading the orchestra on a 13-concert U.S. tour to California, Florida and New York that culminates this week with its first Carnegie Hall appearances since 2005.
“Everything is very much based on the voice for Tony because of his opera background,” said Maxine Kwok, an LSO violinist since 2001 and a member of its board. “So it all comes down to emotions and how you would phrase things if you were singing.”
Pappano was born in England and moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, with his family when he was 13. A son of a voice teacher, he became a rehearsal pianist at the Connecticut Grand Opera at 17 and then at New York City Opera at 21. He worked as assistant to Daniel Barenboim on “Tristan,” the Ring Cycle and “Parsifal” at the Bayreuth Festival and debuted in 1991 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and in 1994 at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where Barenboim was music director.
“I probably shouldn’t have been in front of some of the big symphony orchestras, Chicago Symphony, for sure. That came a little bit too soon,” Pappano said. ”But I survived and then hopefully you learn from those mistakes of timing. In terms of the long-term positions I’ve had, I don’t think I’ve put a foot wrong.”
He was music director of Oslo’s Den Norske Opera from 1990-92, Brussels’ Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie from 1992-2002 and Rome’s Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia from 2005-23, often working with his wife, vocal coach Pamela Bullock. While Pappano grew up in the U.S., he has concentrated his career in Europe.
“There’s a lot of turmoil in the States, well, all over the world at the moment, and I don’t miss that,” he said. “I’m concerned about the way America is going, if I’m honest. I also worry about the degree to which art in general is treated like some kind of elitist domain to an even greater degree than it is over here. We have to fight that sentiment over here because the easiest thing to cut in a budget is the arts budget.”
Clive Gillinson, then LSO’s managing director, engaged Pappano for a 1996 recording of Puccini’s “La Rondine” with Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Roberto Alagna at London’s Abbey Road Studios.
“I thought he should be given a chance as a symphonic conductor because there was very little track record,” said Gillinson, now Carnegie Hall’s executive director. “To be honest, in those early days, I didn’t think he was a great symphonic conductor. It took him time."
Pappano led his first LSO concert performance the following January at the Barbican.
“It was clear right from the get-go that he kind of got the LSO and we very much got him,” said Neil Percy, a principal percussion who has been with the LSO since 1990. “It’s in his soul, man. You can see it in his skin. He just understands opera kind of like no other conductor that I’ve ever been fortunate enough to work with.”
Pappano debuted at The Royal Opera in Puccini’s “La Bohème” in 1990 and was 32 when he became its youngest music director, following distinguished predecessors Rafael Kubelik, Georg Solti, Colin Davis and Bernard Haitink.
Pappano announced in March 2021 he was switching to the LSO, an ensemble known for its work on movie soundtracks that include “Star Wars.” Rattle had moved to the LSO in 2017 and decided he wanted to switch in 2023 to Munich’s Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
“We're chalk and cheese, as they say in England," Pappano explained.
“With Simon Rattle there’s an incredible precision in the approach to the playing,” said Kathryn McDowell, who succeeded Gillinson as the LSO’s managing director. “It’s a different sound with Antonio Pappano... it’s got a real sort of sheen.”
Pappano is continuing to lead Covent Garden's production premieres of Barrie Kosky’s staging of the Ring, with “Die Walküre” opening May 1, “Siegfried” next season and “Götterdämmerung in 2026-27, but his successor, Jakub Hrůša, will be in charge of the full cycle in 2027-28.
When Pappano conducted the finale of Maher's Symphony No. 1 in Naples, Florida, last week, he was struck by a realization.
“I’ve never had anything like this under my hands. What a lucky sod I am,” he recalled thinking. “That life underneath every note, that was always the calling card of this orchestra. If you could stoke that flair, that theatricality that they have, it’s quite something.”
FILE - Antonio Pappano appears at an event celebrating his 22 years as Music Director at the Royal Opera House, in London on May 16, 2024. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Photo via AP, File)
U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as an ongoing crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths.
Trump said late Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports mount of increasing deaths and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night.
Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has accurately reported on past unrest in Iran, gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran cross checking information. It said at least 544 people have been killed so far, including 496 protesters and 48 people from the security forces. It said more than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
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A witness told the AP that the streets of Tehran empty at the sunset call to prayers each night.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, addressed “Dear parents,” which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
—- By Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Iran drew tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators to the streets Monday in a show of power after nationwide protests challenging the country’s theocracy.
Iranian state television showed images of demonstrators thronging Tehran toward Enghelab Square in the capital.
It called the demonstration an “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism,” without addressing the underlying anger in the country over the nation’s ailing economy. That sparked the protests over two weeks ago.
State television aired images of such demonstrations around the country, trying to signal it had overcome the protests, as claimed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier in the day.
China says it opposes the use of force in international relations and expressed hope the Iranian government and people are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing “always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned “in the strongest terms the violence that the leadership in Iran is directing against its own people.”
He said it was a sign of weakness rather than strength, adding that “this violence must end.”
Merz said during a visit to India that the demonstrators deserve “the greatest respect” for the courage with which “they are resisting the disproportional, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.”
He said: “I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population rather than threatening it.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday suggested that a channel remained open with the United States.
Esmail Baghaei made the comment during a news conference in Tehran.
“It is open and whenever needed, through that channel, the necessary messages are exchanged,” he said.
However, Baghaei said such talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”
The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on Monday began calling out Iranian celebrities and leaders on social media who have expressed support for the protests over the past two weeks, especially before the internet was shut down.
The threat comes as writers and other cultural leaders were targeted even before protests. The news agency highlighted specific celebrities who posted in solidarity with the protesters and scolded them for not condemning vandalism and destruction to public property or the deaths of security forces killed during clashes. The news agency accused those celebrities and leaders of inciting riots by expressing their support.
Canada said it “stands with the brave people of Iran” in a statement on social media that strongly condemned the killing of protesters during widespread protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks.
“The Iranian regime must halt its horrific repression and intimidation and respect the human rights of its citizens,” Canada’s government said on Monday.
Iran’s foreign minister claimed Monday that “the situation has come under total control” after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after over 500 have been reported killed by activists -- the vast majority coming from demonstrators.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran has summoned the British ambassador over protesters twice taking down the Iranian flag at their embassy in London.
Iranian state television also said Monday that it complained about “certain terrorist organization that, under the guise of media, spread lies and promote violence and terrorism.” The United Kingdom is home to offices of the BBC’s Persian service and Iran International, both which long have been targeted by Iran.
A huge crowd of demonstrators, some waving the flag of Iran, gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian government. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by early evening only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.
Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.
Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with the the demonstrators, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver. A police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt.
The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.
Shiite Muslims hold placards and chant slogans during a protest against the U.S. and show solidarity with Iran in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Activists carrying a photograph of Reza Pahlavi take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Activists take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
