[1] Fayer's range extended from the classical repertoire (he conducted over 400 performances of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake alone)[2] through to new ballets by composers such as Shostakovich and Prokofiev.

[3] He was an early starter on the violin, giving his first concert at age 11, joining the Kiev Opera orchestra at 14, and entering the Moscow Conservatory at 16.

He worked at the opera house in Riga and formed his own touring orchestra, before returning to Moscow in 1914 and re-entering the Conservatory, while also playing violin at the Bolshoi Theatre.

On Christmas Eve 1925, he conducted the Bolshoi orchestra in works by Beethoven, Litolff and Tchaikovsky to accompany the world premiere of Sergei Eisenstein's film Battleship Potemkin.

[10][better source needed] Apart from his world premieres, Fayer directed the first Bolshoi Theatre performances of many ballets, including: In later years he became almost blind but continued to conduct.