Paul Daniel was Music Director of English National Opera from 1997 until 2005 and he conducted a wide range of repertoire including, in recent seasons, notable productions of the Ring, Lulu, The Trojans, War and Peace, and the world premiere of Turnage's The Silver Tassie.

Paul Daniel was Music Director of Opera Factory from 1987 – 1990, and of Opera North from 1990-1997, where he attracted critical acclaim for a diverse and challenging repertoire including several world premieres, as well as celebrated productions of Pelleas et Melisande, Don Carlos, and Boris Godunov.

Other operatic engagements have included the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Teatro Real Madrid, and the Geneva Opera. In January 2006 Paul Daniel makes his debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York.

Symphonic engagements have included the Philharmonia, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre National de Lyon, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. In 2005 he conducted the internationally televised Last Night of the Proms in London with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and he returned to the Proms in 2006 with Ian Bostridge.

Recordings include the Elgar/Payne Symphony No 3 with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, a series of English music CDs with the Orchestra of Opera North, Elijah with the OAE and Bryn Terfel. Opera recordings include Falstaff, Wozzeck, and Lulu and The Carmelites in the Chandos Peter Moores series.