He started playing the cello at the age of 12 and, having won a scholarship, continued his training at the Moscow Conservatory where he studied under Sviatoslav Knushevitsky and Mstislav Rostropovich from 1961 to 1966.
Around the same time as the Tchaikovsky competition, he was also awarded a prize from the Union of Soviet Composers for his performance of Russian music.
From 1977 to date, he lives in the United Kingdom, where he is a professor of cello at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
He performs regularly and leads numerous cello masterclasses privately, as well as at music festivals and in state conservatoires throughout the world.
In 2006, he recorded and transcribed Beethoven's violin concerto for cello, to coincide with the 200 year anniversary of its first performance.