Gennady Rozhdestvensky: Said he was not supported

"We considered many candidates," he said.

"But we felt that, of the young conductors, he was the most suitable for the Bolshoi Theatre as it is today."

It is not clear whether Mr Vedernikov will take over as artistic director as well as chief conductor.

Mr Rozhdestvensky held both roles simultaneously but Reuters news agency reports that Mr Verdernikov will also be appointed as head.

Mr Vedernikov has been artistic director of the Russian Philharmonia since 1995 and has had experience with other top orchestras and theatres in Russia and abroad.

Earlier in the month 70-year-old Rozhdestvenksy left the Bolshoi after criticism of his production of Prokoviev's The Gambler.

The Bolshoi Theatre: A Russian institution in disarray

After his departure he painted a picture of utter chaos at the opera house in a Russian TV interview, describing artists skipping rehearsals, defective sets and erratic management.

The Russian Ministry of Culture appointed Mr Rozhdestvensky as artistic director and Anatoly Iksanov executive director last autumn, in a bid to address the declining fortunes of the company.

But Mr Rozhdestvensky said that the executive director did nothing to help him.

The Bolshoi was one of the glories of the USSR

Now Mr Iksanov has said that the Bolshoi will focus on building a young following with the aid of their new appointee.

But the Bolshoi is also keen to maintain stability within the company.

Mr Iksanov told Ekho Moskvy: "We have returned the traditional system, aiming to observe a balance, as it were, between ballet and opera, to ensure that the arrival of each new person does not result in a tilt towards one or the other direction."

The Bolshoi's ensemble features some of the Russia's finest performers, but the lure of better pay abroad or cash-raising tours is often great.

In addition to the artistic crisis, the theatre itself is said to need a �145m facelift after years of neglect.