. Many did not know that he is an American who lived for a long period in the US where he completed his studies, first with his experienced father as music teacher, then with the well renowned conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim (a friend of the late Edward Said). Later he became an assistant of Barenboim preparing Wagner’s operas at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany. Following that he worked as Musical Director of Oslo Opera House in Norway between 1990 – 1992. At that time , we did not anticipate that he would become in 2005 the top conductor of the prestigious Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London and simultaneously the conductor of the oldest musical institution in Europe, the Orchestra of Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome thus moving between the two cities every month.

There has always been a ‘ love affair ‘ in cultural matters between England and Italy. Even this season two other Italian conductors performed at the Royal Opera House: Bruno Campanella conducted the opera ‘ La fille du régiment ‘ by Donizetti and Nicola Luisotti in May conducted ‘ Aida ‘ by Verdi before proceeding to San Francisco, USA to continue directing its opera house. Pappano feels at home in both London and Rome; he is a world VIP using music as his language. Besides being a high quality pianist and conducting leading orchestras, his multi talented personality is marked by exhibiting variety and numerous gifts. He can lecture and explain the difference between Italian and German opera as seen in Verdi’s and Wagner’s works like nobody else can .Sometimes in Rome he enlivens his talks by singing short passages of these operas in his own delightful voice. He cracks a joke about the poor opera singer who performed in Parma known all over Italy for its refined audience who quickly realized the limited vocal talent of the tenor after he sang the first few phrases in Act One. Several spectators shouted: No, No, and that was the shortest performance ever of that opera. Pappano accompanied at the piano the rising , pretty Swedish soprano, Nina Stemm when she sang beautifully a number of lieder songs by Wagner and Rachmaninov. She was so impressed with him that she kissed him warmly in front of the admiring public. But Pappano’s best piece of the season which he conducted in Rome, was ‘ A Hero’s Life’ ( Ein Heldenleben) by Richard Strauss, one of his favorite composers since one of his professors in the US was a close disciple of Strauss who passed away in 1949. Pappano gave a superb reading of the symphonic poem and conveyed the story of the symbolic hero who fought fierce battles then resorted to peace and tranquility with such sentiment, grandeur and tight rein on the Santa Cecilia Orchestra. The music unfolded in waves, peaks and sonorities then ended in a serene seductive manner that left the audience completely fascinated. Pappano showed sympathy to his Hero with a deftness of touch without sounding pretentious.

Pappano’s hit of the season was his choice in London of a daring and little known opera by Sergey Prokofiev called ‘ The Gambler ‘ based on a satirical novella by Dostoevsky. We saw at the Royal Opera House , Covent Garden a wonderful rare performance directed by Richard Jones of a play accompanied by music. Acting was as superb as the singing, which is not the case in many other opera productions when acting is not up to the level of the great voices.

Events of ‘The Gambler’ take place at a German spa called Roulettenbourg where clients take care of their health, visit a zoo, and pass their time gambling. A Russian general loses his money which he has borrowed at high interest rate as well as his aunt’s fortune. Alexey is tutor to the general’s children and has no money but he is in love with the general’s stepdaughter, Paulina. He wins constantly in the roulette hall hoping to marry his beloved, but she leaves him after he becomes rich. He doesn’t notice her absence after he gets addicted to gambling. The plot of the story is full of dramatic scenes because Dostoevsky (1821 – 1881) wrote it in 1866 based on his personal experience and diabolic addiction to gambling for ten years. Jones’ sharp and sensetive direction and the set designs by Antony McDonald largely contributed to the success of the performance, but the real star was the masterful bass John Tomlinson playing the role of the General. He is renowned for his great deep flowing voice and perfect acting of difficult roles in Wagner’s operas such as Wotan; he proved again that he is a first class actor as well as possessing a moving voice. Roberto Sacca as Alexey, tutor to the general’s family, sang his tenor role beautifully and personified the tutor’s role searching for love in Germany between the gambling tables of luxurious Europe in the 19 th century. The biggest challenge fell on Prokofiev ( 1891 – 1953) who displays talent for musical grotesquerie, transformed the story into an opera in 1916 and wrote some very creative music after being so impressed by the novella. Pappano who led the orchestra should be congratulated because he showed full command of every person in the show including over one hundred musicians. He managed to sway the audience even though this was the first time “The Gambler ‘ was presented in England, and the spectators had never heard its tunes before. The gamble of the Royal Opera House of launching an unknown piece paid off by all measures. It demonstrated a deep futuristic vision that searches for many hidden jewels still to be discovered in classical music.

Pappano seemed very pleased with his achievement and the lavish applause he received. Perhaps the idea of presenting this opera was tempting him since his long stay in Brussels where Téâtre de la Monnie produced ‘The Gambler’ as far back as 1929. Antonio Pappano is a true artist of genuine talent and imagination which make him a big shot in the classical music world these days. We do not know how his new ideas are born: is it in London or Rome or on board of the airplane that transports him regularly from one capital to another. All his artistic gambles turned out into astonishing success since he conducts his battles with the magical baton of a musical conductor. You leave his performances after three hours, and you say to yourself “ I wish he continued playing .. I didn’t realize how these moments passed so quickly “.