He wins praise and plaudits for his style and brilliance. He wants to smell every little new idea that comes up, every glimpse. Tony is the music. He unites everyone. He cares about securing the future of opera and helps to train the big names of tomorrow. Maestro pappano has been a great help into nurturing talent of people i like me who are young artists. Hes very encouraging. I go Behind The Scenes at the Royal Opera House to see tony in action and ask if opera is losing its relevance for new audiences and whether he thinks its making itself fit for the future. I think every major opera house wants to entice younger audiences. It must do everything and be open to the interests of many different people. Let me take you to the opera 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 personalfavourite, german tenorjonas kaufmann, who always relishes the opportunity to work with tony. Its. Lovely to see you. Welcome. And to see you, thank you. 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 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. Thats 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 to just, 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. Tony sings 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 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 thejob. 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 Masa bane 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 conductor from 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. Hes conducted around 700 performances over two decades at the Royal Opera House in london as its Music Director. And he believes opera 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 of Joyful 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 fabulousj 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 again. Lets take a look at whats happening with our weather over the coming ten days or so. Now, on friday, the best of the sunshine really was across the north west highlands, but elsewhere, a fairly cloudy picture, and actually on the satellite imagery, you can see this clump of cloud, the approaching storm system thats been named storm betty and with it, some heavy rain as well, strengthening winds, too. In fact, lets take a closer look at storm betty. You can see its track as it works northwards across the uk bringing heavy rain and high winds. Several met Office Warnings in force for that. And through the early hours of saturday, that rain continues to track northwards across scotland, towards parts of the far north of scotland, still very windy around parts of the north sea coasts, and some big waves here as a result as well. For saturday itself, that system continues to clear northwards towards orkney and shetland, but a wrap around bringing cloud and outbreaks of rain still with us through northern ireland, in towards parts of scotland as well. But actually on saturday much of england and wales dry with some sunny spells, a few showers, but of course pretty wet underfoot, certainly if youve got any Outdoor Activities planned. Temperatures up to around 25 degrees in the south east, and all of the north sea coast a bit warmer than what we saw on friday. Looking ahead to sunday, weve got low pressure anchored towards the northwest, High Pressure towards the southeast. That means for areas closer to the west and northwest, cloudier here, breezier with showers and longer spells of rain, some sunshine across Eastern Parts of scotland, and certainly through england, wales, the second half of the weekend, a very similar picture to saturday, some sunshine, a few showers, lighter winds compared with what weve seen, and temperatures perhaps up a notch, 25 degrees in the southeast. A wee bit fresher towards the west and northwest with the cloud and the breeze. And looking ahead to next week, we hold on to that low Pressure System towards the northwest. High pressure nearby, across the near continent, but actually for many, its low pressure that will influence conditions certainly through northern ireland, in towards scotland, parts of north west england, but through the midlands, the south and the east, on monday, its drier with some sunshine and temperatures here once again in the mid 20s, a little bit cooler and fresher further north with the cloud and the showery outbreaks of rain. And as we head overnight monday into tuesday, the wet weather is still with us. With that low pressure circulating towards the northwest, perhaps a few more showers drifting in towards the midlands at times. Once again, its the southeast that will be driest, sunniest and warmest. Now, if you were watching yesterday, we were talking about how we were hopeful, actually, that warm air across the continent would start to work its way in. It looks as though now it might just stay there. Well see a little bit of it across parts of the south east of england. But this High Pressure tending to push it away. And that means the low pressure is still with us in the north, so cloudy and damp here. Its drier with some sunshine further south, but perhaps not quite the temperatures reaching the high 20s that we had thought. Still, 25 to 26 degrees is above average, not bad at all. Further north, cooler and fresher, with the cloud and the rain and the wind. And then for the end of the week, well, low pressure begins to take over, more of a northerly drift, and certainly turning more unsettled through parts of central and Southern England after what will be a pretty settled start to the week. And you can see on the outlook, after that dry and sunny start in the southeast, turning more unsettled. Temperatures around about average, really, for the time of year. Thats the forecast for now. Live from london. This is bbc news. More questions about the british nurse convicted of murdering seven babies did the hospital properly investigate lucy letby . At least seven people are killed in a Russian Missile attack on ukraine. One of the victims is a six year old child. And counting down to glory one more day before spain and england compete for the womens world cup. Hello, im gareth barlow. There are calls for the independent inquiry announced by the uk government into the crimes of the nurse lucy letby to be strengthened. The 33 year old was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six more at the countess of Chester Hospital betweenjune 2015 and june 2016. The mp for the region welcomed the inquiry but urged the government to ensure it can compel witnesses to give evidence. The Hospital Trust is facing more questions about why it didnt take action sooner after concerns were raised over the conduct of the nurse. Our north of england correspondent Judith Moritz reports. Lucy letby� s mugshot is on every front page today. Shes finally been exposed as britains most prolific baby killer. But for years, this was the way she presented herself to the world as a smiling, caring, young nurse. So why did it take so long for the net to close in