Seated on a piano bench in his office at the Metropolitan Opera, arm draped casually over the encased keys of the upright, Fabio Luisi looks awfully serene for one of the most scrutinized conductors in the world.
“I try not to pay attention to pressure,” he said with a laugh, just a few hours before the curtain rose for a performance of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.”
“I focus on more important things — like the performance tonight, and the premiere the day after tomorrow, and the tour.”
A trim, energetic, stylish figure in a fitted striped shirt, wire-framed glasses and hair neatly gelled in waves, Luisi, 52, has no time to worry.
In addition to his new job as principal conductor of the Met — where he recently led “Giovanni” and Wagner’s “Siegfried” — he is touring the United States for the first time with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, with whom he is chief conductor.
Friday, Luisi brings his orchestra to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, where he will lead Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 and the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Eroica Trio as soloists. READ MORE >>>
Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Where: New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark
When: Friday at 8 p.m.
How much: $50 to $90; call (888) 466-5722 or visit njpac.org
Morristown FYI 