Graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire with distinction in 1963, specialising in three subjects: opera and symphony conducting, piano and the theory of music. As a fifth year student at the Conservatoire, he was invited to be assistant conductor and, upon graduation, conductor at the Novosibirsk Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. 1969 - 1976 and 1989 - 1993: Principal Conductor of the Odessa Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. 1976 - 1989: Principal Conductor of the Novosibirsk Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. People‘s Artist of Russia (1982). Honoured Artist of Ukraine (1973). Conductor at the Mariinsky Theatre since 1993. Professor at the St Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire from 1996.
His repertoire includes over eighty operas and ballets.
Repertoire at the Mariinsky Theatre includes: Operas: Glinka - Ruslan and Lyudmila; Musorgsky - Boris Godunov, Khovanshchina; Borodin - Prince Igor; Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin, Mazepa, The Queen of Spades, Iolanta; Rimsky-Korsakov - The Maid of Pskov, The Snow Maiden, The Tsar?s Bride, The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maid Fevronia; Rakhmaninov - Francesca da Rimini, The Miserly Knight; Prokofiev - War and Peace; Verdi - Aida, Otello; Bizet - Carmen; Puccini - La boheme, Madama Butterfly, Tosca; Gounod - Faust; Mozart - Don Giovanni; Bellini - La sonnambula; Donizetti - Don Pasquale. Ballets: Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Serenade to the music Serenade in C Major for String Orchestra; Glazunov - Raymonda; Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella; Melikov - The Legend of Love; Stravinsky - Petrouchka, The Firebird, Apollo, Capriccio for piano and orchestra; Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade; Bizet - Symphony in C; Chopiniana; Adam - Giselle, Le Corsaire; Minkus - Don Quixote, La Bayadere, Paquita.
Has toured with the Mariinsky Theatre to the UK, the USA, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, France, Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Spain and Australia.
Independently of the Mariinsky Theatre, he performs as guest conductor at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Oulu Theatre (Finland) and the Oviedo Opera House (Spain).
Jury member of the International Glinka Opera Singers? Competition (1986) and the International Rimsky-Korsakov Opera Singers? Competition (1997, 1999).