Daniel Libeskind turns his talents to conducting

Daniel Libeskind, the meister of modern architecture, will swap the drawing board for the conductor's baton this weekend when he brings a rare French opera to the Berlin stage.

Libeskind, 57, hailed as a musical prodigy as a pianist half a century ago, is hoping to repeat his childhood success with his staging of St Francis of Assisi by the late 20th-century composer Olivier Messiaen at the Deutsche Opera.

The Polish-born American architect is best known for the Jewish Museum in Berlin, which has been hailed as one of the most important buildings of the past 100 years.

Libeskind's foray into opera has not been trouble-free. Until last month he was working on the production with Johann Kresnik, a celebrated director and choreographer, until differences of opinion prompted Kresnik to walk out.

The stage for Messiaen's 1983 opera is not unlike an architect's studio. It is dominated by a huge quadrangle and cubes which rotate around a matrix designed by the mathematician Cecil Balmond.