Sir Antonio Pappano, or tony, as he prefers to be known, has the Signature Flair of his italian roots, combined with a detailed knowledge of music that has made him one of the most popular conductors of our age. Tony has been in so much demand that over the last two decades hes simultaneously held two leading posts Music Director at the Santa Cecilia orchestra in rome and at londons Royal Opera House. Hes such a unique personality as well as a wonderful musician and artist. Theres that inimitable fire, that unquestioning commitment that he brings to every single performance that he does here. Its that level of passion which really comes across. Cheering and applause he steps down from his post in rome in september 2023, and the following summer, he leaves the Royal Opera House after a record 22 years. But it wont mean the end of tonys love affair with opera. He will be a Guest Conductor here at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, where there have been so many key changes during his time as Music Director. Ive been invited to see tony in rehearsals for an upcoming performance with one of the biggest names in opera and a personal favourite, german tenorjonas kaufmann, who always relishes the opportunity to work with tony. Its. Lovely to see you. Welcome. And to see you, thank you. Way, way, way, way, way. Werther, by the french composer massenet, is a tragic love story based on a novel by the german author goethe. Jonas kaufmann is performing the title role alongside russian mezzo soprano aigul akhmetshina. Sir tony pappanos reputation has been forged in the rehearsal room. So its absolutely fantastic for me to see the maestro at work. You know, you should always start with talking to him in a position. Just keep. Talk to him, and then when he goes, i love you, any more, then go to his chest and, you know, but. 0k. But be careful, because otherwise youre lost in there. I mean, shes screaming. Laughter. In a very wonderful way. Thank you . But, i mean, really loud. And if he says. Jonas sings quietly tony and i came together and discussed what we could do here in one of his last seasons at the Royal Opera House. And it turned out that werther is one of his all time favourite pieces. I didnt know. So we said, well, then lets do it. Whats it like singing when youre lying down . Because, i mean, that is much harder to project, isnt it . It is. It is more difficult. That is true, because, you see, the natural way of breathing is obviously when youre standing or kneeling or something. But it does work. And, you see, wouldnt it be strange if someone is dying and on the floor and it would sound absolutely impeccable . Yes, very true. You see, that is part of the acting and of the credibility that it is in an uncomfortable position, because hes about to die and about to bleed to death. Thats it, thats it thats it what makes it unique to work with tony . Its a very long list, i think, of ingredients that make tony special and unique in the operatic world. Its an enormous difference if you have a conductor who is actually sucking in energy, who is constantly taking the energy from orchestra and from stage. Or if you have someone who is like a sun in a solar system, tojust spread it here and there and it carries you all the way through. And you will probably only realise once you come back to your Dressing Room what youve done and how much youve been capable or willing to give. This is. That� s you thats not you, thats you. And so i think that will help prepare you. Hes so supportive. He breathes with you. He sings with you. For that reason, he feels every second. If something goes wrong, he will catch you. He always supports singers. Thats a very rare quality now in the opera industry. Take half an hour. I dont care how long that note is, but dont make it short. Stay long. For him its very important that youre creating the whole story together. Its very strong teamwork. Tony pappano learned the value of teamwork from a very early age. His first Musical Partnership was with his father, pasquale. Tonys parents moved to the uk from southern italy. His father studied music while working as a cook and later became a vocal coach in london. His mother, carmela maria, took on a variety ofjobs. They worked themselves to the bone, really, two, threejobs each, morning, noon and night. Quite menial ones at times . Oh, absolutely. My mother cleaned offices in the morning. My brother and i used to clean them with her before we went to school. To survive and to have. To have a life, we had tojust, you know, work as hard as possible. And of course, that stayed with me. Tony started playing the piano at the age of six, and by the time he was ten, he was regularly accompanying his father when he gave voice lessons. You know, the family business, you know, that means after school, running home, getting on the bus and going to the west end, where they were, where he would rent the studios and teach until quite late at night. I was with him, so i didnt have that kind of after school sort of life with my friends and all that. When tony was in his early teens, the family moved to connecticut in the united states, where his father became a music teacher, with tony as his accompanist. Opera plays tony sings note i wish i was a tenor just to do this. I wasnt crazy about it at the time, you know, because when i was a teenager, especially, you know, the sound of, tony. Tony. You know, hes ready. The student is ready. You know, i mean. And hearing vocal exercises. He sings scales you know, that kind of. That kind of haunting me to this day. I learned with my father how to talk to singers, which is a great advantage for me today. I mean, youve seen me rehearse and i talk to the singers not only about singing in time and in tune, but i tell them about the acting, too, and how to time that with the words and how to. You know, thats something that ive nurtured sort of unbeknownst to even myself over many, many years, because thats what i think a conductor of opera has to be. At 22, tony got a job at the new york city opera, but it came at a personal cost. To this day, incredible difficulty dealing with the fact that i had to leave my father to obviously to. To seek my fortune. Spread your wings. You know . My mother encouraged me, you know, very much Behind The Scenes to go do the audition. I had an introduction and i went and did an audition, got the job. But that means six days a week, i was not available to my father. On the seventh day, you know, the day of rest, right, i would play for his students all day, but that didnt work any more. And so that was very, very difficult because it left my father, who didnt play very well, he could play with one hand, left him in the lurch. Was he devastated . Well, he would never say it, but of course he was. And i knew i had to. Seek other experiences because i started. When i started working in the opera house, i got a taste of what was out there. The big breakthrough came when the renowned pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim invited tony to be his assistant at the bayreuth Music Festival in germany, where he remained for six years. I learned so much from him. I mean, can you imagine playing the piano for somebody like him . Its scary, but youre Learning Something every day, not only because youre in the presence of a great musician, but because youre in the presence of somebody whos going to push you. And i had very little conducting experience, so youre thrown in the deep end, and if you survive that, you come out, you know, enriched and, sure, battle scarred. Tony may have been barenboims protege, but he soon began making his own mark. However, at first, he had no ambition to become a conductor. I must say that im still getting around to the idea of being a conductor. Ijust kind of. I did it a little bit at the beginning, and then it became more and more. And then i did it and then All Of A Sudden i was being rehired. Miracle of miracles. Thats the key, to be rehired. And ijust fell into it. And then it was bigger than me. And i went along with it. Sir Antonio Pappano made his debut as an Opera Conductor in 1987 with puccinis la boheme at the State Opera House in norway, where three years later, he became Music Director. When i conducted my first opera, when i walked into the rehearsal room. I just exploded. All the experience of having played those pieces for my father, for other conductors, having watched rehearsals with myriad singers singing these parts, having, you know. All of a sudden, it all came out of me. One of the many singers whom tony has mentored is the South African soprano Masabane Cecilia rangwanasha. You still must sing with that refinement. When youve got the technical refinement, then you can add this overwhelming. Emotion. But really lovely, terrific. And tony was the conductor of her debut in a major role when she sang the part of liu in Puccinis Turandot at the Royal Opera House. It was an amazing run. It was all like a dream come true. And what makes him such a good conductorfrom a young singers perspective . He knows the voice, so he knows how to work with the voice and also to incorporate your voice with the orchestra. It was amazing to work with Maestro Pappano as a conductor, you know, focusing on the music and also the text. Tony pappano has conducted around 700 performances over two decades at the Royal Opera House in london as its Music Director and believes it does not deserve the reputation of being an elitist artform. I think theres this disconnect and i get really offended by the people who say were elitist. The fact of the matter is that its harder to get into a Football Game in london than it is to get into the opera house. Opera house can and must be many things. It shouldnt cater just to one audience, and it shouldnt be focused on just one corner of the repertoire. It must do everything and be open to the interests of many different people. I think you have to be honest and say, well, yes, but younger people cant afford very expensive tickets, can they . So you have to have a certain amount of investment if you want to achieve this. Here at Covent Garden, we are doing that. Were investing in that. But i think you have to find also a combination of newer titles, titles that have contemporary subject. But i do not believe that you need to really have modern productions of old standard pieces. A younger person comes to the opera house and sees something maybe even old fashioned. Thats great, too, as long as its full of energy, as long as the singers are really delivering. Theres a wonderful romantic story, shall we say. Its the final full Dress Rehearsal for the werther cast before opening night, and the audience gathers ahead of the performance. Bell rings Applause Orchestra plays it was my first opera and i thought it was| really incredible. Its still a very relatable and interesting story,. Regardless of the time period. Im a huge fan of Antonio Pappano, and i think werther actually is one of his best in his career. Hes made an outstanding contribution to opera over the decades. Tony and the team at Covent Garden also want to expose young performers from a variety of backgrounds to opera. The Royal Opera HouseYouth Opera Company is a Talent Development programme here at the Royal Opera House. We have an open Recruitment Process every year, and its really important to us that our Company Really reflects the city that we live in. So we try to make sure theres a real variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, of ethnicities and an even gender split as well. The majority of our young people who join us will come from families who probably have had no real experience of opera. Whats it like for them working with sir Antonio Pappano . Do they appreciate that they are in the midst of a great maestro . They dont really understand the sort of the size of the reputation that tony is kind of carrying into that room. And for many of them, its the first time theyve worked probably with a conductor. So they bring a real sort Ofjoyful Playfulness into the room. And what i think we love watching is how tony matches that, that he has such a sort of natural warmth with them and hes so dedicated to nurturing our next generation, that he really isjust a joy for them to work with. Tony has come a long way since he himself was a child. He conducted the orchestra at Westminster Abbey for king charles coronation. I grew up in a councilflat right behind Westminster Abbey, and having recently conducted at the coronation, its a four minute walk from that council flat to Westminster Abbey. So i havent travelled very far in 63 years. A council flat, of course, is public housing, and it was a fairly rundown area when you were living in it. Yeah. Well, you know, it was. It was pretty simple, shall we say. But, look, i havent come very far, but ive come. It is a pretty good gig, isnt it . Tonys departure from the Royal Opera House is a time of change for him and a chance to reflect about what he wants to do in the future. Im looking forward to just slowing the tempo a little bit. I dont think im going to get into pottery any time soon or. And i dont think im a great gardener, but i love to eat and i love to drink. And id love to find a way to be quiet. But those who know me, you know, im not going to, you know, sort of step back too far, because that energy is what drives me and the need to stick my nose into everything. Im going from having Twojobs Tojust having onejob. Tonys new post will be chief conductor of the london symphony orchestra. But his legacy at the Royal Opera House means hes a role model for young Opera Conductors. Theres all sorts of videos of him talking through the operas. You can hear the joy in his voice when he speaks about it. And because theyre all over youtube, i mean, ive watched all of those. You know, that was one thing definitely that got me into it and made me want to explore more about opera. Hes conducted so many fabulous performances here over the years that have generated so much energy and passion. And enthusiasm from our. Audience and our orchestra and everyone who works in the building as well. I if you have a vision for what you want to achieve in life, if you have that spark and if you have the energy and if you have the resilience to keep pushing when, you know, things will get tough, youll make it in any walk of life. Applause whenever i come to the Royal Opera House to see tony in action, it never ceases to thrill me. His experience, his incredible talent, his insights make him truly unique. And although hes taking a bow on one chapter of his career, he will continue to enthral and inspire audiences. And he perhaps best demonstrates how opera is not an elitist artform. It is about excellence and the virtues of hard work and dedication. Hello there. It certainly was quite an eventful start to our weekend, with storm betty pushing north, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. A pretty grey and blustery start in northern ireland. Here, we had 46 millimetres of rain from storm betty. But the story improved and, actually, we had some sunshine and some warmth coming through. By the end of the afternoon, temperatures in Lincolnshire Peaking at 25. 9 celsius. So this was the story, then, on saturday, with storm betty anchored to the north west, starting to drift its way a little bit further westward. So as we go through the day on sunday, we will have more cloud the further north and west and a few scattered showers to begin with. And then into the afternoon, perhaps some more showers developing across the western half of england and wales. Further east, drier, settled with some sunshine. And temperatures, well, 17 to 21 degrees for scotland and northern ireland, perhaps peaking at 2a or 25 degrees 77 fahrenheit for england and wales. Into the first part of next week, low pressure will move in from the north and it will bring showers or longer spells of Rain Across Scotland and northern ireland. Some blustery winds as well. For england and wales, it stays largely dry with showers fairly isolated, and with a south westerly Wind Direction, those temperatures will start to climb. Itll feel quite pleasant, in actual fact. Temperatures peaking at 26 degrees here, 16 to 21 under the cloud and the rain. A similar story as we move into tuesday, always the risk of some showers continuing into the far north and west and a few along west facing coasts. But therell be plenty of sunshine and plenty of warmth. It will feel quite pleasant. Once again, those temperatures peaking widely into the mid 20s across central and southern england. But by the middle part of the week, we are expecting a change. A Weather Front could potentially bring some wetter weather, and as this drifts its way steadily eastwards, the Wind Direction will swing around to a fresher north westerly. So that means that were going to lose some of that warmth. The russet tones disappear back to the near continent. It will be a cooler story towards the end of the working week. So further north, it looks likely it will stay cool and showery at times, with temperatures mid to high teens. But even across england and wales, a noticeable difference to the feel of the weather, although we might not see that much rain in the far south east. Live from washington. This is bbc news. Hurricane hilary is fast approaching landfall, putting the southern part of california under its first Tropical Storm watch. British columbia is under a State Of Emergency as wildfires continue to rage across canada. And excitement is building as england and spain prepare to face off in the womens world cup final. Hello, im carl nasman. We begin the programme with something that has never happened before in Southern California the Us National Weather service issuing the areas first ever Tropical Storm warning. Hurricane hilary is on its way. The storm has just been downgraded to a category 2 hurricane, with winds of up to 110 miles per hour. Its expected to make landfall soon in mexico. Locals are preparing for the storm here in the resort of cabo san lucas. There are warnings of potentially catastrophic flooding, although forecasters think the storm will lose some of its wind speed as it reaches Southern California. Preparations are also under way there, including work to shore up hillsides. Officials there are worried about landslides and majorflooding. Nearly 26 Million People in the south western us are now under a Tropical Storm warning as Hurricane Hilary makes its way up the pacific coast. Mexicos government has placed 18,000 soldiers on standby to assist in potential rescue efforts. The head of the us federal Emergency Management agency