News
Double knighthood for Sir Antonio Pappano in Britain and Italy
17 May 2012
President of the Italian Republic Georgio Napolitano has awarded Sir Antonio Pappano with the highest order in Italy, the knighthood of the Cavalierie di Gran Croce dell’Ordine ‘al merito della Repubblica Italiana.
Previous knighthoods have been awarded to Placido Domingo, Claudio Abbado and Daniel Barenboim. At a ceremony on Monday evening at the Quirinale Palace, Pappano received his knighthood amongst his colleagues from the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra. This follows Pappano’s knighthood in Great Britain in the latest New Year’s Honours List. Sir Antonio Pappano will receive his British knighthood on Tuesday next week at Buckingham Palace.
Sir Antonio Pappano is the Music Director of the Royal Opera House and the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome. Last year, Sir Antonio Pappano won the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Creative Communication for his ground-breaking series Opera Italia for BBC Four. Antonio Pappano records exclusively for EMI Classics. His joint EMI Classics discography with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia includes many award-winning CDs including Mahler Symphony No. 6, Rossini’s William Tell and Stabat Mater, the Verdi Requiem, Respighi’s Roman Trilogy, the Tchaikovsky Symphonies 4-6, and Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly with Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann. Their recording of Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony was listed in Matthew Rye’s guide to the 1,001 Recordings you must hear before you die.
In a country first known for opera, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia is a rare example of a symphony orchestra not attached to an opera house and it is unanimously recognised as Italy’s finest symphonic orchestra. Since taking over as Music Director of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia six years ago, Antonio Pappano has revitalised and galvanised the Orchestra with his enthusiastic spirit, positive energy and consummate musicianship. It has been voted one of the leading orchestras of the world. The Chorus of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia has been described by the Independent as “one of the world’s great choirs” and is in great demand on tour both with the Orchestra and on its own. In the UK alone, they have won more than 9 music awards over the past 2 years.
The Accademia di Santa Cecilia has an impressive heritage. Since its creation in 1908, the Orchestra has collaborated with distinguished conductors and composers including Mahler, Debussy, Strauss, Stravinsky, Hindemith, Respighi, Berio, Stockhausen, Toscanini, Furtwangler, De Sabata, Karajan, Stokowski, Böhm, Kleiber, Celibidache, Sinopoli, Bernstein, Abbado, Muti and Barenboim. Most recently its Music Directors have been Bernstein, Sinopoli, Gatti and Myung Whun Chung. They have imbued in the orchestra the great European symphonic tradition from Beethoven to Shostakovich.
Antonio Pappano became Music Director of The Royal Opera in 2002 (gaining the 2003 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera). Recent highlights with The Royal Opera include a new production of Il trittico,(relayed into cinemas world-wide,) a celebration of Plácido Domingo's 40 years performing with The Royal Opera, a tour to Japan (conducting Manon, La traviata and Handel's Messiah) and the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Anna Nicole. His forthcoming performances for The Royal Opera during the remainder of the 2011/12 Season include David McVicar's new production of Les Troyens (also at the BBC Proms) as well as Otello and the Plácido Domingo's Operalia Winners performance. In 2012/13 he will conduct The Ring Cycle, The Minotaur, Don Carlo and Simon Boccanegra for The Royal Opera.
Antonio Pappano
Born in London, he moved to the USA at the age of 13. In 1987 he made his conducting debut at the Norwegian National Opera, where he was appointed Music Director in 1990. At the age of 32 he was appointed Music Director of La Monnaie, Brussels, where he remained from 1992 to 2002. During this period he made his debuts in Vienna, at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and at the Bayreuth Festival. He became Music Director of The Royal Opera in 2002 (gaining the 2003 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera) and of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome in October 2005. Recent highlights with The Royal Opera include a new production of Il trittico, a celebration of Plácido Domingo's 40 years performing with The Royal Opera, a tour to Japan (conducting Manon, La traviata and Handel's Messiah) and the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Anna Nicole. He has made many recordings for EMI, most recently Rossini's Guillaume Tell (released in July 2011) and Mahler's Symphony no.6 and in May 2010 presented a widely-acclaimed series, 'Opera Italia', for BBC television. He received a knighthood in the Queen's New Year Honours, 2012 and was made a Cavaliere di Gran Croce Dell'Ordine Al Merito della Repubblica Italiana in May 2012.
Awards Won 2010-2011
Antonio Pappano
Male Artist of the Year, Classic Brit Awards (2011)
Verismo with Jonas Kaufmann
Recital Category, Gramophone Award (2011)
Rossini Stabat Mater
Editor’s Choice, Gramophone Award (2011)
Verdi Requiem
Critics’ Choice, Classical Brit Awards (2010)
Choral category award, BBC Music Magazine Awards (2010)
Choral award, Gramophone Awards (2010)
Madam Butterfly
Female artist of the year (Angela Gheorghiu), Classic Brit Awards (2010)
Opera Disc Award, Classic FM Gramophone Awards
Colbran, The Muse with Joyce Di Donato
Recital, Gramophone Awards (2010)
Previous knighthoods have been awarded to Placido Domingo, Claudio Abbado and Daniel Barenboim. At a ceremony on Monday evening at the Quirinale Palace, Pappano received his knighthood amongst his colleagues from the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra. This follows Pappano’s knighthood in Great Britain in the latest New Year’s Honours List. Sir Antonio Pappano will receive his British knighthood on Tuesday next week at Buckingham Palace.
Sir Antonio Pappano is the Music Director of the Royal Opera House and the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome. Last year, Sir Antonio Pappano won the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Creative Communication for his ground-breaking series Opera Italia for BBC Four. Antonio Pappano records exclusively for EMI Classics. His joint EMI Classics discography with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia includes many award-winning CDs including Mahler Symphony No. 6, Rossini’s William Tell and Stabat Mater, the Verdi Requiem, Respighi’s Roman Trilogy, the Tchaikovsky Symphonies 4-6, and Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly with Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann. Their recording of Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony was listed in Matthew Rye’s guide to the 1,001 Recordings you must hear before you die.
In a country first known for opera, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia is a rare example of a symphony orchestra not attached to an opera house and it is unanimously recognised as Italy’s finest symphonic orchestra. Since taking over as Music Director of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia six years ago, Antonio Pappano has revitalised and galvanised the Orchestra with his enthusiastic spirit, positive energy and consummate musicianship. It has been voted one of the leading orchestras of the world. The Chorus of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia has been described by the Independent as “one of the world’s great choirs” and is in great demand on tour both with the Orchestra and on its own. In the UK alone, they have won more than 9 music awards over the past 2 years.
The Accademia di Santa Cecilia has an impressive heritage. Since its creation in 1908, the Orchestra has collaborated with distinguished conductors and composers including Mahler, Debussy, Strauss, Stravinsky, Hindemith, Respighi, Berio, Stockhausen, Toscanini, Furtwangler, De Sabata, Karajan, Stokowski, Böhm, Kleiber, Celibidache, Sinopoli, Bernstein, Abbado, Muti and Barenboim. Most recently its Music Directors have been Bernstein, Sinopoli, Gatti and Myung Whun Chung. They have imbued in the orchestra the great European symphonic tradition from Beethoven to Shostakovich.
Antonio Pappano became Music Director of The Royal Opera in 2002 (gaining the 2003 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera). Recent highlights with The Royal Opera include a new production of Il trittico,(relayed into cinemas world-wide,) a celebration of Plácido Domingo's 40 years performing with The Royal Opera, a tour to Japan (conducting Manon, La traviata and Handel's Messiah) and the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Anna Nicole. His forthcoming performances for The Royal Opera during the remainder of the 2011/12 Season include David McVicar's new production of Les Troyens (also at the BBC Proms) as well as Otello and the Plácido Domingo's Operalia Winners performance. In 2012/13 he will conduct The Ring Cycle, The Minotaur, Don Carlo and Simon Boccanegra for The Royal Opera.
Antonio Pappano
Born in London, he moved to the USA at the age of 13. In 1987 he made his conducting debut at the Norwegian National Opera, where he was appointed Music Director in 1990. At the age of 32 he was appointed Music Director of La Monnaie, Brussels, where he remained from 1992 to 2002. During this period he made his debuts in Vienna, at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and at the Bayreuth Festival. He became Music Director of The Royal Opera in 2002 (gaining the 2003 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera) and of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome in October 2005. Recent highlights with The Royal Opera include a new production of Il trittico, a celebration of Plácido Domingo's 40 years performing with The Royal Opera, a tour to Japan (conducting Manon, La traviata and Handel's Messiah) and the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Anna Nicole. He has made many recordings for EMI, most recently Rossini's Guillaume Tell (released in July 2011) and Mahler's Symphony no.6 and in May 2010 presented a widely-acclaimed series, 'Opera Italia', for BBC television. He received a knighthood in the Queen's New Year Honours, 2012 and was made a Cavaliere di Gran Croce Dell'Ordine Al Merito della Repubblica Italiana in May 2012.
Awards Won 2010-2011
Antonio Pappano
Male Artist of the Year, Classic Brit Awards (2011)
Verismo with Jonas Kaufmann
Recital Category, Gramophone Award (2011)
Rossini Stabat Mater
Editor’s Choice, Gramophone Award (2011)
Verdi Requiem
Critics’ Choice, Classical Brit Awards (2010)
Choral category award, BBC Music Magazine Awards (2010)
Choral award, Gramophone Awards (2010)
Madam Butterfly
Female artist of the year (Angela Gheorghiu), Classic Brit Awards (2010)
Opera Disc Award, Classic FM Gramophone Awards
Colbran, The Muse with Joyce Di Donato
Recital, Gramophone Awards (2010)
Nicky Thomas Media Consultancy: International media relations for Accademia di Santa Cecilia
+44 7768 566530 or +44420 702 702 7810| info@nickythomasmedia.com | www.nickythomasmedia.com I twitter@ntmediauk
+44 7768 566530 or +44420 702 702 7810| info@nickythomasmedia.com | www.nickythomasmedia.com I twitter@ntmediauk