AUSTRIAN CONDUCTOR COLLAPSES DURING PERFORMANCE, DIES

Famed Austrian conductor Stefan Soltesz has died after collapsing during a performance in Germany. He conducted performances all over Europe including Graz, Vienna, Berlin and Hamburg.

The 73-year-old collapsed while conducting The Silent Woman by Richardt Strauss at the National Theatre in Munich. He died later that evening.

In a statement released on Friday, the Bavarian State Opera said that “with dismay and deep sadness, the Bavarian State Opera must announce the death of Stefan Soltesz”.

The Bavarian State Opera’s general director, Serge Dorny, shared his distraught through a tweet, saying he was “deeply saddened” by the conductor’s death.

“We lost a talented conductor. I lose a good friend. My thoughts are with his wife Michaela.”

News24 reports that Soltesz served as music director of the state theatre of Brunswick in central Germany from 1988 to 1993. He was also the chief conductor of the Flemish Opera in Antwerp and Ghent from 1992 to 1997, followed by engagements in the western German city of Essen.

Soltesz made his debut as a conductor on the Bavarian State Opera in 1995.

Image credit: RTBF