Speranza Scappucci to become Royal Opera's principal guest conductor

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Speranza Scappucci will become principal guest conductor of London’s Royal Opera starting with the 2025-26 season.

Her appointment was announced by the company on Monday.

The 50-year-old Italian, a graduate of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome and the Juilliard School in New York, made her Royal Opera debut last year in Verdi's “Attila.” The Royal Opera has not had a principal guest conductor since Daniele Gatti from 1994-97.

She will work alongside Jakub Hrůša, who succeeds Antonio Pappano as music director for the 2025-26 season. The house said Scappucci will be involved in works by Verdi and Puccini along with bel canto.

Scappucci was music director of Belgium's Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège from 2017-22 and has debuted with the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera, Milian's Teatro alla Scala and the Paris Opéra.