Seiji Ozawa, Japan's most famous conductor, is set to make a comeback in August at a music festival after taking more than a year off to recover from a spell of bad health that included bouts of pneumonia.

The former Vienna State Opera music director, 77, who before that was conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2010 and completed treatment that year.

Last March, he announced he would take a year-long break from conducting to recover his strength after a number of health issues.

Ozawa is set to conduct Maurice Ravel's opera The Child and the Spells at the Saito Kinen Festival in the city of Matsumoto, central Japan, in late August.

As one of the first Asian classical musicians widely recognized internationally, Ozawa has strived to revitalize the classical music scene in his native country.

Reuters