Housed in Renzo Piano’s striking complex, the Parco della Musica in Rome, Italy’s oldest symphony orchestra is enjoying a new lease of life thanks to its palpably close relationship with its Music Director since 2005, Sir Antonio Pappano. Gramophone Awards have rewarded the partnership which, for Bernstein Year, gave us the three symphonies by the orchestra’s former President. As Edward Seckerson put it: ‘Their ethos, their extrovert nature, to say nothing of their innately operatic manner, made them a good fit. And there’s something of Bernstein’s dynamism and eclectic, all-embracing nature in the person of Antonio Pappano whose penchant for, and love of, jazz for starters ticks one of the many boxes that this music demands.’