[Herald Interview] Pappano connects LSO with Korean audiences

On Tuesday night, conductor and pianist Antonio Pappano stood before the Korean audience at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts’ Grand Theater with the London Symphony Orchestra, marking the orchestra's first Korean tour under the new music director.

The 64-year-old conductor took the helm of the LSO from Simon Rattle this summer, after leading the Royal Opera House since 2002.

Pappano's extensive experience in the opera realm has profoundly influenced his conducting style.

“My work as an opera conductor over many years has no question influenced the way I approach music in general,” he said in a recent email interview. “I try to find the storytelling in any kind of music. The storytelling is something I find very important to render the music as communicative as possible.”

In opera, Pappano must navigate a complex interplay of performers - soloists, choruses and orchestra - all working in tandem, often away from his direct line of sight. “Conducting an orchestra on stage is easier, more direct, more achievable,” he noted.

Yet he recognizes that both forms demand a continual reinvention of oneself as a conductor. “You have to constantly push to try to achieve something special,” he said, emphasizing the importance of energy and perseverance.

Pappano finds that the concert platform offers a more pure experience, focusing solely on the music and the conductor's ability to translate it to the audience. He said he aims to deepen this experience in the coming years with the LSO.

With the LSO, founded in 1904, the conductor said he is eager to explore British music, alongside American and Italian repertoires in the future. In addition, in an era when orchestras are branching out into diverse genres, he sees value in engaging with contemporary forms, from film scores to collaborations with rock bands.

“These experiences enrich the orchestra,” he remarked, highlighting the LSO’s longstanding relationship with film music and its role in reaching broader audiences. LSO is renowned for performing the soundtracks of many iconic films, including "Star Wars."

When it comes to the audience, Pappano felt the energy of the youthful audience when he first visited Korea in 2018 as the music director of the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome and performed with Korean pianist Cho Seong-jin.

“The cliche is that concert-goers tend to be of a certain age and that there's more white hair than black hair in the audiences. I found that not to be the case in Korea when I was last there, noticing that there's no question that a younger audience brings in a younger energy, something that we performers sense immediately,” he said.

Pappano recently collaborated with another talented Korean pianist Lim Yunchan.

Reflecting on his experiences with both Lim and Cho, he said, “It’s incredibly exciting for me that these young artists have such distinct musical personalities and have managed to make Western music their own, not only in terms of technique but also emotionally.”

He also spoke highly of pianist Yuja Wang, with whom the LSO is currently touring Asia.

Wang made history as the first Chinese pianist to win the Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo at the 66th Grammy Awards in February.

“She is a very dedicated, very well-studied, very emotional performer who is naturally musical and gifted technically and in a way that few pianists are. She's also very curious and does so many different kinds of repertoire. She has not played it safe. She has challenged herself over and over again,” he said.

London Symphony Orchestra will continue its Korean tour, performing at Lotte Concert Hall on Thursday, at Namhansanseong Art Hall in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, on Friday and at the Daejeon Arts Center in Daejeon on Saturday, with slightly different programs.