Britain's Sir Simon Rattle, reckoned ideal by many insiders, rules himself out not least because he will be taking over as chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic in 2002.
Two British conductors, Opera North's Richard Farnes and the Royal Opera House's Antonio Pappano will battle it out with Germany's Ingo Metzmacher and Christian Thielemann, and Italian Nicola Luisotti for the conductor trophy.
"The normal protocol for a medical emergency is for the conductor to administer first aid, but it is likely he would have had to put a message out to ask for help, " the spokesman said.
There are other challenges to overcome, including how the conductor will control a choir made up of people in different locations and acousticians will have to work out how the speakers will be arranged in each of the concert halls.