The Bayerische Staatsoper announced the death of the 73-year-old musician shortly following the incident.
Born in Hungary in 1949, Stefan Soltész took his first piano lessons at the age of four and arrived in Vienna, Austria at the age of 10. His career began in 1971 at the Theater an der Wien. Over the next two decades he directed the Wiener Staatsoper, the Hamburger Staatsoper, and then the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He then became conductor at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen from 1992 to 1997. In 1997 he was appointed artistic and musical director of the Aalto Musiktheater in Essen and held this position until 2013. Under his leadership, the theater has gained international recognition. Stefan Soltész has also worked in many other major opera houses, including those in Frankfurt, Rome, Budapest, Warsaw, Moscow and Paris.