Fabio Luisi (Conductor)
Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959, Genoa) is an Italian conductor. On
September 6, 2011, he was named Principal Conductor of the Metropolitan
Opera.
As a child, Luisi suffered from asthma. Luisi attended the Conservatorio
Nicolт Paganini and was a student of Memi Schiavina. After receiving his degree
in piano studies, he continued piano instruction with Aldo Ciccolini and Antonio
Bacchelli.
Luisi developed an interest in conducting while working as a piano
accompanist, and he studied conducting at the conservatory in Graz with Milan
Horvat. He worked at the Graz Opera as an accompanist and conductor. His first
conducting appearance was in Italy in 1984. From 1990 to 1995, he was principal
conductor of the Graz Symphony Orchestra. From 1995 to 2000, he served as
Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Tonkьnstlerorchester in Vienna.
From 1996 to 1999, he was one of three main conductors (Hauptdirigenten)
of the MDR Symphony Orchestra (Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk
Sinfonieorchester) in Leipzig, along with Marcello Viotti and Manfred
Honeck. From 1999 to 2007, he was sole principal conductor of the MDR orchestra.
He was the principal conductor of l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande from 1997 to
2002.
In January 2004, Luisi was named chief conductor of both the Staatskapelle
Dresden and of the Semperoper, Dresden. He assumed both posts in September 2007.
With the Staatskapelle Dresden, Luisi has conducted commercial recordings of
music by Richard Strauss and Anton Bruckner. Luisi was originally scheduled to
step down as chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden in 2012, at the
expiration of his contract. However, Luisi resigned from both Dresden posts in
February 2010, with immediate effect, after reports that the Staatskapelle's
management had secured a contract with the ZDF network for a scheduled televised
concert on New Year's Eve, 2010 with Christian Thielemann as conductor, without
consulting him at all in his capacity as the orchestra's GMD.
Since 2005, he has served as principal conductor of the Vienna Symphony. He
is contracted to the VSO through 2013, and is scheduled to step down from the
VSO chief conductorship after the 2012-2013 season. In June 2009, Luisi was
named the next Generalmusikdirektor of the Zurich Opera, effective with
the 2012-2013 season, with an initial contract of 5 years.
In the United States, Luisi made his Metropolitan Opera conducting debut in
March 2005, with Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlos. In April 2010, Luisi was
named the Met's principal guest conductor, for an initial contract of 3 years,
effective with the 2010-2011 season. Luisi is the second conductor to be named
to this post at the Metropolitan Opera, after Valery Gergiev. He was elevated to
the post of Principal Conductor in September 2011, when Music Director James
Levine withdrew from his scheduled fall 2011 performances. Luisi has also
conducted several opera recordings, including Giuseppe Verdi's Aroldo,
Jerusalem and Alzira, and Gioacchino Rossini's William
Tell.
Luisi and his wife Barbara, a photographer and former orchestra violinist,
have three sons. The family is in the process of relocating from Vienna to New
York City.
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