Renowned Latvian maestro Mariss Jansons, who conducted some of the world's most prestigious orchestras, has died at his home in Saint Petersburg, Russian authorities said on Sunday. He was 76.

Jansons, who had suffered from heart problems, died of cardiac arrest, according to people close to his family quoted by Russian media.

"Sincere gratitude for his great art will always remain with us," Saint Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said in a statement, calling him "an outstanding conductor". Considered one of the leading conductors to emerge from the former Soviet Union, Jansons was born in the Latvian capital Riga in 1943, the son of the renowned conductor Arvid Jansons, who died in 1984.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019