Stepping into the shoes of Sir Simon Rattle is an unenviable task, but with that maestro now ensconced in Munich with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, his position at the helm of the London Symphony Orchestra has gone to Sir Antonio Pappano, now in his last season at Covent Garden. Pappano has conducted the LSO on and off over the years, but this was his first concert as chief conductor designate.
Rattle was able to create a unique soundworld and stylistic integrity by his empathy with the players in marked contrast to that of his predecessor, Valery Gergiev. Pappano will need time to forge his own relationship with the orchestra, and this was a challenging way to start: the premiere of a contemporary work, a demonic firecracker from Liszt, and Strauss’s Nietzschean hymn to the Superman, Also sprach Zarathustra.
