Antonio Pappano: «It is right to give the part of Othello to a tenor of color. But what do we do with Puccini? “

Mrs Pamela apologizes for the mess and points to a long corridor. “Tony is over there. He is waiting for her ». The “cultured” disorder is created by the books and scores of Antonio Pappano, the conductor at the head of the musical direction of the Royal Opera House in London and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Tony is the diminutive with which his wife, the American musician and pianist Pamela Bullock calls him, but also those who work with him, a specific desire expressed by this musician, awarded the title of Sir by Elizabeth II, multifaceted, polyglot and from the repertoire protean. «Fascinating, isn’t it?» Says the master looking up from his iPad. He spreads the sound of orchestra and piano in the living room of his London home, in the refined neighborhood of Hampstead, illuminates it with the sun and reverberates on the gold of the two Grammy awards on display. He could win another one, just for this new recording.

THE GREAT
CONDUCTOR
BETWEEN ROME AND LONDON:
«THE PAINTED FACES
YOU CANNOT SEE THEM “

«Film music. Do you recognize him? A piece from Legrand’s Summer of ’42. I am in love with this repertoire ». Pappano is particularly attached to it. The relationship with Ennio Morricone was also profound in the past. On the composer’s death in 2020, his son Marco gave the orchestra director the film scores written by his father, so that he could then conduct them with Santa Cecilia. Between Rome and London the Anglo-Italian-American conductor, three souls and five languages ​​spoken (“three passports: English, Italian and American and, in addition to English, I speak Italian, French, German, Spanish and a little Russian. In short, the languages ​​of opera »), has created over decades of activity what it calls the Pappano Era.

Say it aloud: when the assignments expire in 2023 and 2024, there will be a total of 40 years of activity linked to these excellences.

«In 2024, after 22 years, my position as musical director at the Royal Opera House will end, while next year, in 2023 after 18 years I will say goodbye to the staff of Santa Cecilia. I’m trying to metabolize the pain of detachment early. With Santa Cecilia we have completed 33 recording projects ».

After all, how to leave two families.

“We have come a long way together. I have established a relationship of mutual exchange. A dialogue between different realities. The flexibility of response typical of British orchestras has met the Italian tradition. The sumptuous and warm Mediterranean sound has entered the British DNA, while in the Capitoline one the ability to face an ever wider repertoire ».

Rome or London?

“Different situations. In Rome the relationship was with a symphonic team. In London, Covent Garden is a large theatrical family. My constant presence wanted to be an example of how to work: will, desire to carry out new projects. Dedication to the profession ».

Two families will greet two but another, the London Symphony Orchestra is already ready.

“We have known each other for years. The first time in 1996 in Abbey Road, yes in the Beatles recording studio. We had to record Puccini’s La rondine. I raised my wand and was hit by the energy of a gritty sound ».

In 2023, Pappano will take over from Simon Rattle, the outgoing director of London Symphony and with the position of principal conductor will begin fully in 2024. While he will maintain the role of conductor emeritus with the Cecilian team in Rome (not only used in the Vatican), and from 2024 a collaboration with the Salzburg Easter Festival will begin. The winning key of these long collaborations always lies in dialogue. Constant. Between genres, musical realities, social situations in transformation.

«Art can be combined with show business without losing respectability». She always repeats it remembering how much she served her apprenticeship as a young pianist of
cocktail lounge.

«One aspect of the dialogue I was talking about. You need to know each reality in order to understand the mechanisms of a situation. Think how complex an opera house is. Have foreclosures? Never. How would a musical reality like the Royal Opera House live without the support of private individuals, in addition to patronage (Pappano refers to the support given by Rolex, of which he is also an ambassador, in supporting cultural projects of international prestige, ed). The world of culture, not just music, has changed. It is essential to always maintain a high standard ».

But the rules have also changed. Politically correct, cultural revisionism, recent cases linked to opera titles and blackface .
“We programmed Verdi’s Otello last July at Covent Garden and for the first time in the history of this theater the title role was sung by a tenor of color, Russell Thomas. A way to go ».

Thumbs down for the blackface.

“The theatrical fiction of the past has something anachronistic about it. But cultural revisionism is not that simple to apply. Thinking of Othello or Aida with a painted face is difficult. It is right to find black performers who can best face these roles. But it’s not that easy. What if we had to reverse the situation? ».

No blackface titles like Traviata or Tosca?

«The great interpreters of these roles have been and are of every nationality, without ever having aroused clamor. And Puccini? His relationship with the feminine is so complex. Her love for women went so far as to annihilate them in her music. The tragedy of femicides is on the agenda today. Should Puccini be banned? Yet, I speak of his works, this violence is less perceived than other themes. Contradictions that can become boomerangs for culture. Imagine every time I get on the podium ».

Conducting and podium. And you think of a man. The conductors?

«Discrimination must not exist, but there is a discriminating factor: the artistic value. And it must apply to both sexes. If a conductor or an orchestra conductor lacks musical and theatrical knowledge and does not make a career, discrimination has nothing to do with it. I repeat. If, on the other hand, an artist has even greater skills than a colleague, open roads. This is how it should and should be ».

«WITH MY MOTHER CARMELA
I HEAR MY PHONE
EVERYDAY.
HE MADE SO MANY SACRIFICES, TO MY APPOINTMENT
OF BARONETTO
AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE
IN LONDON PIANSE »

Many musical families, but also the one of origin to which he is very attached.

«Also in this case the profession and private life dialogue. I have “adoptive” artistic families scattered around the world and so are my roots and my family. A part is here in London, where I was born, a part in the States where I moved as a young man and now my brother, my nephews and my mother Carmela live. I talk to her on her phone almost every day. She was in the front row with my brother at Buckingham Palace when I was awarded the title of baronet. In tears ».

She must have been very proud.
“Imagine what it means for a mother who has made as many sacrifices as you to see her son receive such recognition. Then my other family came into play, Covent Garden. I was showered with unimaginable affection and gratitude. A recognition obtained thanks to teamwork. It is wonderful to share it with the whole theater ».

Its Italian roots. Every year in Castelfranco he conducts a concert in memory of his father.

“Over the years it has become like a moral duty. Remembering my Italian roots, they sink in the lands of Benevento. The pandemic had stopped me. This year I was able to do it. On August 10 in the town square I conducted Beethoven’s Fifth. Hymn to hope and metaphor of our times: pandemic, war, ecological disasters. But we always hope for a better tomorrow ».

Trust in Providence? Are you a believer?
«I believe in spirituality and I live it in music. The great sacred scores: Bach, Bruckner, Brahms, Beethoven. Mascagni’s Cavalleria is also imbued with it, I directed it here in London last July in the exceptional direction of Michieletto. A title that I face almost with fear: from the very first bars the wand traces a sign of the cross ».

Prestigious artistic assignments, the title of Sir. What if you were offered political office in the UK?
“I’m more cut out to be on the battlefield. The one linked to the podium though ».

Brexit, the fall of Boris Johnson’s government, Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.

“Brexit has proved to be a mistake. Johnson’s fall? Now it takes a leader with determination. Able to see the potential of the UK. And culture is part of it. Jubilee? The confirmation of the value of The Queen, of the attachment to the country: dedication and constancy. She has given stability. A reference”. Just like a conductor for his orchestra must be.