‘Misguided wokeism’ puts people off opera, says top London conductor

The conductor and musical director of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) has criticised the “misguided wokeism” behind what he called a “great suspicion” of opera and British cultural achievements.

Antonio Pappano, 64, has been the musical director of the Royal Opera House for more than two decades. He becomes the LSO’s chief conductor in September, having spent a year as chief conductor designate after Simon Rattle stepped down.

Speaking about the financial pressures facing opera, the English-Italian conductor and pianist, who led King Charles’s coronation concert in 2023, said British people were “embarrassed” by the art form.

“I think opera in many quarters is seen as something elitist,” Pappano told BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life. “The [British] politicians, for instance, don’t come to the opera house, they used to, whereas in Italy, the president of the republic would come and there’d be big applause, it would be celebrated by the audience ... in Germany too.

“Here it’s looked on with great suspicion. That drives me nuts, I have to tell you. England is a haven for culture whether it is pop culture or classical culture, literary culture, theatrical culture, this is one of the great addresses and yet we’re embarrassed by it.”

Pappano said the opera industry had had a “rough time because the money becomes less and less every year”.

“Why be embarrassed about something that is a treasure?” he said. “The Royal Opera House, the English National Opera, the Welsh National Opera are beacons, they’re internationally recognised and centres of excellence, you know, honing talent.”

Related: British music, birthdays and building work: LSO announce first season under Pappano

He said you have to “take care of the big places” such as the central opera house while spreading the funds elsewhere to the regional houses. He also dismissed people thinking opera is not a “growth industry” and urged for opera to be viewed through a “proud” lens.

“There is a strange and misguided wokeism. If you’re supporting an opera in a church basement or something, that’s more important than the Royal Opera House, the English National Opera, the Welsh National Opera – give me a break,” he said.

He made the comments on the day the LSO announced its 2024-25 season, the first under Pappano as its chief conductor. British music will dominate, with a new work by James MacMillan opening the season on 11 September and works by Bax, Elgar, Holst, Walton, Elizabeth Maconchy and Tippett threaded through the following nine months of concerts.

The ENO is planning to move to Manchester by 2029 – after it was stripped of funding by Arts Council England and told it must move out of London.

Pappano also spoke of his excitement about beginning his tenure and said he “always harboured a secret dream that maybe one day I would be where I am today”.

The conductor took over from Rattle at the helm of the LSO after the latter announced he would be moving to Munich to become the chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.