Antonio Pappano in conversation with Fergus McWilliam (15 min.)

When Antonio Pappano appeared with the Berliner Philharmoniker in January 2018 after a long break, the programme included works by Mussorgsky, Scriabin and Ravel plus several orchestral songs by the underrated composer Henri Duparc. Pappano, who became musical director of the Royal Opera House in London in 2002 and musical director of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome in 2005, feels just as at home in the symphonic repertoire as in the world of opera. The conductor talks to the Philharmoniker’s horn player Fergus McWilliam about the balance between the two genres and his career path from pianist and répétiteur to Kapellmeister. They also discuss the apparently strongly contrasting pieces of the programme which are all connected in some way to the music of Claude Debussy.