A world-renowned Hungarian musician is recovering in hospital after breaking his hip hours before he was due to conduct a performance with the chorus he formed 38 years ago.

Instead of stepping up to the podium at the Brighton Dome on Sunday night, Laszlo Heltay, once dubbed "the finest choral trainer in the world", was confined to his bed at the Royal Sussex County Hospital after falling during the final rehearsal.

The musician had been invited back to conduct the Brighton Festival Chorus and the Budapest Symphony Orchestra in a celebration of music by fellow Hungarians Bla Bartk and Zoltn Kodaly, his former teacher.

The performance also marked the debut for the newly-refurbished Dome organ.

Current chorus director James Morgan stepped in and the performance was dedicated to Laszlo, who is expected to remain in hospital for the rest of this week and may need an operation.

He also missed an after-show party in his honour with many of his friends and former colleagues.

Gill Kay, the festival's classical music programmer, said: "Because it is the 40th Brighton Festival we are celebrating everything that is fantastic about it and the Brighton Festival Chorus is a pretty important part of that. We thought it would be really special to invite Laszlo back to conduct something."

She was watching Sunday's performance when Laszlo fell.

She said: "He just tripped. It was a tiny little stumble, the sort of thing we all do, and he landed on his hip.

"On the night, there were 160 really glum faces on stage.

When the conductor said the performance would be dedicated to him and wished him a speedy recovery there was a huge round of applause.

"The chorus anniversary is coming up soon and we will certainly think about doing something with him in the future."

Laszlo, who was born in Budapest and exiled from Hungary in 1957 during the Russian invasion, formed the Brighton Festival Chorus while at the University of Sussex in the late Sixties.

It was an instant success and went on to be recognised as one of the best in the world with Laszlo as chorus master for 27 years. The chorus formed close associations with a number of leading orchestras and conductors including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Andre Previn, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Lord Menuhin, its president until his death.

Laszlo has conducted many major orchestras including the Dresden Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony and the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestras.

He founded the Academy Chorus of St Martin in the Fields with whom he directed the choral music for the film Amadeus and a recording of Paco Pena's Misa Flamenca. In 1982 he was awarded the International Kodly Medal.