(Credit: Rahvusooper Estonia)

Estonian conductor Jüri Alperten has died at the age of 63, after a long illness.

Alperten graduated from the Tallinn Conservatory in 1979 and was the Chief Conductor of the Estonian National Opera from 2002 to 2004; he was also the Chief Conductor of the Pärnu City Orchestra since 1998.

Alperten had worked with several prominent orchestras, including the Hungarian Radio Orchestra, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, and the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.

The Estonian conductor dedicated big part of his life to conducting operas and operettas, including “La Vida Breve” by Manuel de Falla, Weber’s “Der Freischütz,” “Die Fledermaus” by J. Strauss, Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” and “Der Fliegende Holländer,” Puccini’s “Tosca,” “La bohème,” and “Fanciulla del West,” and Verdi’s “La Traviata” and “Aida,” among others.

In 2012, Alperten was awarded the Harjumaa Theatre Prize.