Conductor Yakov Kreizberg has died at the unfathomable age of just 51 after a long illness. There are details on Norman Lebrecht’s blog and from his agent here. Here is an excerpt of her letter announcing his passing:

It is with deep sorrow that we must announce the passing of conductorYakov Kreizberg on 15 March 2011. He died peacefully after a long illness – borne with great courage, fortitude and determination – at his home in Monte Carlo, surrounded by his wife and two sons. He was aged only 51.

Yakov Kreizberg was one of the most interesting and exciting conductors of his generation. He was widely sought-after by the world’s leading orchestras, and held posts with the Theater Krefeld Mönchengladbach, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Komische Oper in Berlin and the Wiener Symphoniker.

At the time of his death he was the Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Netherlands Philharmonic and Netherlands Chamber Orchestras. He led them on many highly successful tours and leaves behind a number of great recordings.

He conducted his very last concert with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra on 14 February 2011 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The programme consisted of Glinka’s Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla, Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.2 with soloist Alexander Sitkovetsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.

It is with deep sorrow that we must announce the passing of conductorYakov Kreizberg on 15 March 2011. He died peacefully after a long illness – borne with great courage, fortitude and determination – at his home in Monte Carlo, surrounded by his wife and two sons. He was aged only 51.

Yakov Kreizberg was one of the most interesting and exciting conductors of his generation. He was widely sought-after by the world’s leading orchestras, and held posts with the Theater Krefeld Mönchengladbach, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Komische Oper in Berlin and the Wiener Symphoniker.

At the time of his death he was the Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Netherlands Philharmonic and Netherlands Chamber Orchestras. He led them on many highly successful tours and leaves behind a number of great recordings.

He conducted his very last concert with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra on 14 February 2011 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The programme consisted of Glinka’s Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla, Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.2 with soloist Alexander Sitkovetsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.

Yakov Kreizberg was appointed Artistic Director of L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo in January 2008, and subsequently Artistic Director and Music Director in September 2009. Although his time with them was cut short, his relationship with this orchestra was one of the happiest and most rewarding of his career.

Yakov Kreizberg was one of the kindest, thoughtful and considerate artists I knew and it was a great privilege to work for him. He leaves behind a tremendous gap in the music world and we send our sincere condolences to his family.

Linda Marks