Vienna opera house musical director steps down

The general musical director of the Vienna State Opera, one of the most prestigious positions in classical music worldwide, announced his resignation on Friday with immediate effect.

Franz Welser-Moest, 54, whose glittering career has included conducting the world-famous Vienna New Year's Concert last year, cited "long-held conceptual differences in artistic matters" for his decision.

The Austrian's immediate departure leaves the opera house's French head Dominique Meyer without a conductor for a string of planned performances in the 2014-2015 season including two opera premieres.

Welser-Moest trained as a violinist before a car accident turned him to conducting, working with orchestras around the world including in London, Berlin, Zurich, Philadelphia and New York.

Last year he pulled out of conducting a three-year cycle of Mozart operas at the Salzburg Festival, saying that a start-time of one performance at 11:00 am meant the singers would have to wake up at 3:00 am "to be ready".