Antonio Pappano on his plans as the new music director at the Royal Opera House: “Conduct as many masterpieces as possible and there is a chance that their quality will rub off on you.” If that maxim holds true, he will be in dazzling shape in four years’ time, for by then he intends to have conducted the Royal Opera in Ariadne, Wozzeck, Falstaff, Butterfly, Lohengrin, Pagliacci, Salome, Aida, Tannhauser, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Faust and Peter Grimes. It’s an astonishing list. If a No 11 bus happens to stray on to the Covent Garden stage, you feel that Pappano will conduct that too.” – The Times (UK)