Pittsburgh conductor to undergo surgery

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Conductor Leonard Slatkin will replace Andrew Davis, who is scheduled for bypass surgery, as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra goes on its European tour.

The PSO and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where Davis is the artistic adviser and music director respectively, announced the British maestro must undergo arterial surgery Tuesday in Chicago, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said Saturday.

Davis, 62, is scheduled to receive a femoral-popliteal artery bypass in his left leg and is expected to rest from conducting for about six weeks, the newspaper said.

The European tour is set to open Aug. 25 at The Odeion in Patras, Greece.

The Post-Gazette said recovery time only an estimate, and it is unclear whether Davis will conduct the PSO's season-opening gala concert on Sept. 15.

Bruno Bartoletti, Lyric Opera's artistic director emeritus, will replace Davis for a run of Puccini's "Turandot" beginning Sept. 16.