In 1970, he graduated from the faculty of musical comedy of GITIS (The State Institute of Theatre Arts).
From 1970-71, he worked at the Saratov Operetta Theatre.
In 1971, he joined the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre.
Since 1997, he has been appearing at the Bolshoi Theatre.
Repertoire
His repertoire at the Bolshoi includes:
Truffaldino (Prokofiev’s The Love for the Three Oranges)
Caloandro (Paisiello’s La Molinara)
Triquet (Eugene Onegin)
Pang, Pong (Turandot)
Bakula Bobyl (The Snow Maiden)
Sellem (Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress)
Mephistopheles (Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel)
Monostatos (Die Zauberfloete)
Nihilist (The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk)
Monsieur de Boesset (Prokofiev’s War and Peace)
Chekalinsky (The Queen of Spades)
Remendado (Carmen)
Dr. Blind (Die Fledermaus)
Also in repertoire:
Don Jerome (Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery)
King Menelas (Offenbach’s La Belle Helene)
Zsupan (Johann Strauss’ The Gypsy Baron)
Don Anchise (La Finta Giardiniera)
Distiller (Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night)
Panikovsky (Khrennikov’s The Golden Calf)
Zinovy Borisovich (Katerina Izmailova)
Sarafanov (Gladkov’s The Eldest Son)
Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus)
Finn (Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila)
The Old Man (Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tale of Tsar Saltan)
Parpignol (La Boheme)
Tours
He has toured abroad in, among other countries, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Holland, Finland, Hungary and Japan. He has appeared with such well-known conductors as Vladimir Jurowski and Semyon Bychkov.
Took part in the Wexford Festival productions of Tchaikovsky’s The Slippers (1992), Rubinstein’s The Demon, Leoncavallo’s La Boheme (1994), Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night (1995).
He has taken part in the Mozart at Schoenbrun Vienna Music Festival where he sang Monostatos (Die Zauberfloete) and Don Basilio (Le Nozze di Figaro); he has also appeared at: the Hollybush Festival in Glassborough (USA), the St. Margareten Festival (Austria).
He appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Misail in Boris Godunov), the Vienna’s Kammeroper (Die Fledermaus, Massenet’s Cherubin, Eugene Onegin, Wolf-Ferrari’s I Quattro Rusteghi), Opera Nantes (France, Richard Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel), Teatro Comunale, Bologna (Italy, May Night, The Queen of Spades, Iolanta, The Bartered Bride).
In 2004, he sang the Moneylender (Rakhmaninov’s The Miserly Knight) at the Glyndebourne Festival (conductor Vladimir Jurowski, director Annabel Arden).
In 2005, he performed Monsieur de Boesset and Abbat (War and Peace) at the Paris State Opera (conductor Vladimir Jurowski, director Francesca Zambello), Misail (Boris Godunov) at the Teatro Comunale, Florence (conductor Semyon Bychkov, director Eimuntas Nekrosius).
In 2006, he appeared at La Scala as Triquet (Eugene Onegin, Glyndebourne Festival production, conductor Vladimir Jurowski, director Graham Vick). In the same year, he sang Don Jerome (Betrothal in a Monastery) at the Glyndebourne Festival (conductor Vladimir Jurowski, director Daniel Slater).
In 2007, he sang Misail in Boris Godunov (Teatro Real, Theatre de la Monnaie and Opera National du Rhin co-production).
In 2008, he performed Don Jerome (Betrothal in a Monastery) at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia (Valencia) and the title part in a concert performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Kashchey the Immortal at the Royal Albert Hall (London Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Vladimir Jurowski).
He has CD and DVD recordings.
Since the 70’s, he has been appearing in films (including films directed by Eldar Ryazanov and Mark Zakharov), playing character and grotesque roles. Among the movies in which he may be seen are: Garage (1979), Fantazyor (1988), Kill a Dragon (1988), Doctors (2000), Poor Little Girl (2006).
He has appeared in the TV programs: Two Pianos, Wheel of History, The Old Box, Laughterpanorama. He used to be compere of The Stairs to the Sky television series.
He acted the part of Tolstoy in a production after the play Birds by Zhenya Ungard (Showbiz Theatre, Moscow, 2000).
In 2011 he was awarded the Order of Friendship.
