Belgian opera director Gerard Mortier dies aged 70

BRUSSELS: Belgian Gerard Mortier, the avant-garde artistic director of Madrid's Teatro Real opera house until September last year, has died after battling cancer, the culture ministry said Sunday. He was 70.

Mortier, known for his risk-taking approach to scene work and keen interest in 20th-century opera, commissioned an adaptation of gay cowboy epic "Brokeback Mountain" for Teatro Real.

The opera took six years to complete, and a clearly ailing Mortier attended its premiere in January.

Mortier was general director of the Paris opera from 2004 and 2009, and headed the prestigious Salzburg Festival from 1991 to 2001.