A conductor falls and dies in the middle of a performance at the best opera in Munich

While deaths on the conductor's podium are rare, 73-year-old Stefan Soltesz is the fourth conductor to collapse in mid-term at the National Theater since the early 1900s A prominent Austrian conductor died on Friday evening (

Image: ullstein bild via Getty Images)

A prominent Austrian conductor died Friday night after collapsing during a performance at Munich's biggest opera house.

Stefan Soltesz, 73, was conducting Richard Strauss' opera 'The Silent Woman' at the Bavarian State Opera when he suddenly fell from his podium shortly before the end of the first act.

>

The prominent musician was rushed to hospital and later pronounced dead following the tragic accident, said company spokesman Michael Wuerges.

A spectator, Sebastian Bolz, said the music suddenly stopped during the performance and they couldn't understand why.

Neither Bolz nor his wife witnessed the fall of the conductor, but they heard cries for help from the stage and the orchestra pit.

Find out more

The Bavarian State Opera said the news was horrible (

Picture:

ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Michael Wuerges, the opera company's spokesman, said that shortly after the conductor's collapse, the curtain fell on the stage and the theater's on-site doctor came to the scene. rushed to the scene.

An immediate break was requested for the audience and eventually the rest of the performance was cancelled. Shortly before 11 p.m. that evening, the General Director of the State Opera, Serge Dorny, announced the death on