Latvian maestro Mariss Jansons, who dazzled audiences at orchestras across the world, has died at his home in Saint Petersburg where he lived after longstanding heart problems. He was 76.
Jansons had been chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2003, DW reports.
"We‘re devastated," said Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Considered one of the leading conductors to emerge from the former Soviet Union, Jansons has conducted at the Oslo Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
He was born in hiding in the Latvian capital Riga during World War II to singer Iraida Jansone, who was Jewish, and conductor Arvids Jansons. As a child he studied violin with his father.
