Vienna’s annual New Year’s Day concert takes place before a significantly smaller audience on Saturday, due to the pandemic, and without Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who said he was not planning to attend the event.

“In a difficult situation due to the pandemic that demands a lot from all of us,

“I would consider a visit to be a wrong signal,’’ Nehammer wrote on Facebook on Thursday, saying he would watch the concert on television instead.

Despite the reduced number of people attending the event, star conductor, Daniel Barenboim, said he was happy that the concert would not be played in front of empty seats.

He wants to remind people of the importance of music.

“I hope that it inspires some of the politicians all over the world to really think of the importance of the spiritual need of music for the population,’’ Barenboim told reporters on Wednesday.

At the concert, the 79-year-old maestro will conduct the Vienna Philharmonic for the third time, following performances in 2009 and 2014.

The concert will be broadcast in 92 countries.

Last year’s concert, conducted by Riccardo Muti, saw polkas and waltzes played to an empty hall due to the pandemic.

This year, the number of attendees was capped at 1,000 at short notice, in a move that left 700 ticket holders unable to attend.

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A seat would be reserved for them at the event a year later instead, they were told.

Only those who have had a booster shot may attend events with more than 1,000 people under Austria’s latest rules.