Pappano is discovering his italian roots

Peter Conrad writes an interesting article about Maestro Antonio Pappano for the Observer on the last Sunday edition of the Guardian. In the article, entitled "Antonio Pappano: I didn't know what I was. Now I'm discovering my italian roots", the maestro talks about the musical soul of Italy, his migration with his family, first to London and then, when he was 13, to the Unitad States of America and his come back, at his 20s, to Europe as an "Italo-American English boy".

Pappano has recently recorded two stunning albums devoted to the baroque music with the Orchestra e Chor dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia di Roma and two de-luxe casts.

The first one, already released by EMI on 1. Nov 2010, is Rossini's Stabat Mater starring Anna Netrebko, Joyce DiDonato, Lawrence Brownlee and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo.

The second one, to be released by Deutsche Grammophon on 18. April 2011, is Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater" and other works, starring Anna Netrebko and Marianna Pizzolato.

Talking about those recordings, Peter Conrad writes in the Observer:

Pappano has returned to the baroque period in a new recording of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, out next week. It's a plangent, agonised performance, with Anna Netrebko and Marianna Pizzolato emoting at the foot of the Cross – a reminder, like Pappano's recent CD of Rossini's Stabat Mater, that in Italy religious faith is an operatic drama of despair and jubilant recovery.