German conductor Christian Thielemann will succeed Israeli-Argentine conductor Daniel Barenboim as conductor of the Berlin Staatsoper, from which the latter left for health reasons, this famous German opera theater announced today.

Last January, The 80-year-old Argentinian-born pianist and conductor Barenboim, who suffers from a severe neurological disease, had announced his resignation from the Berlin Opera.

Berlin’s culture official Joe Hialo said Christian Thielemann, who regularly conducted the Berlin Staatsoper’s Staatskapelle, will succeed Barenboim from September 2024.

Berlin Staatsoperwhich is located on the grand boulevard Uder den Linden in the former East Berlin, it is one of the three opera houses in the city.

Born in Berlin, Thielemann, a classical music star, he is known for his love of Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner.

Last year, the Staatsoper’s production of The Ring of the Nibelung, Richard Wagner’s famous quartet, was “unanimously described as incredible,” according to Germany’s Berliner Zeitung.

The German conductor, aged 64, has a contract until next year with the Staatskapelle in Dresden (eastern Germany), whose orchestra he conducts, one of the most famous in the German-speaking world.

Protégé of the legendary Herbert von Karajan, Thielemann served as general music director of the Deutsche Oper Berlinof the opera house in the western part of the capital, but resigned in 2004 due to a dispute with the city over funding.