Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music and who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?
The artist who most inspired me to play the violin as a child was David Oistrakh. Something about his expressiveness, the power of his playing always attracted me and made the violin seem like an inevitable choice for me.
What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?
The recording of my first album was a great challenge for me, because we had only three and a half days of recording time for a very virtuoso repertoire and full of artistic difficulties. Fortunately, with the help of [pianist] Itamar Golan, we were able to surpass ourselves and give our best for the sake of the recording.
Of which performances/recordings are you most proud?
It is always very difficult to be totally satisfied or proud of oneself! I would say that my debut with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse was for my taste a great step forward for my career and a very beautiful moment on stage with such prestigious musicians.
Which particular works/composers do you think you perform best?
I like the impressionist repertoire (Ravel, Debussy, etc…) and also the works written for the violin during the 20th century like Barber’s violin concerto, Korngold’s, Britten’s. These kinds of works make me forget that we are playing classical music and give the impression of being film music.
What do you do off stage that provides inspiration on stage?
I think we can draw inspiration from a lot of different fields: I get a lot of inspiration from movies : it helps me imagine that a piece of music is a script, and that you have to get into the character, and, above all, surprise the audience!
How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?
The choice of repertoire is made in conjunction with what’s needed for the concert halls and the ongoing recordings plan, both to advance my career. I am fortunate to have a lot of guidance around these issues.
Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?
Last October, I had the chance to play for the first time in the Karlowicz Hall in Szczecin, Poland and whether it was the aesthetics of the building (which received the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture in 2015) or the exceptional acoustics of the hall, I was delighted to perform the Saint-Saëns Concerto No. 3 there – and hope to return very soon!
What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music’s audiences? What is the classical music world not talking about and should be?
I think we should review the repertoire we offer to the public, to attract a much wider audience, leaving room for young composers while never forgetting the wonderful classics that have made classical music great.
What is your most memorable concert experience?
The Brahms violin concerto played by Janine Jansen in June 2019 at the Philharmonie de Paris was a moment that really struck me: the generosity of her playing mixed with the excellence of the orchestra could not help but make a big emotional impact on me and most certainly for the whole hall!
As a musician, what is your definition of success?
After so many years of work and study, my vision of success is to see that all the efforts made finally come to a very satisfactory result! I believe that every musician who has given all their youth or life to the study of their instrument will say of themselves, the real success is to see a reward for the work done.
What advice would you give to young/aspiring musicians?
One of the best pieces of advice I could give to young musicians is to be very patient! Sure, it’s easy when we’re young and energetic to get impatient because we don’t have everything right away, but from my own experience, I’ve learned that it’s better to wait for the situation to become clearer and find a solution to our problem, than to rush in and make a very bad decision.
Aria, Luka Faulisi’s debut album is out now on the Sony Classical label, featuring arrangements for violin & piano of popular arias & songs
With ‘a million dollar sound’ (Pinchas Zukerman), twenty year-old Luka Faulisi is one of the most promising violinists of his generation. Having started to play the violin at the age of three, Luka was a student of Boris Belkin at the Conservatorium Maastricht in the Netherlands and is currently a student of Professor Pavel Berman at the Academy Lorenzo Perosi in Biella, Italy.
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