Born in Moscow, he graduated from the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS) in Moscow.
He staged a number of opera and drama productions in Russian and foreign theatres.
He also created stage design for all his productions.

His opera productions include:

The Rake’s Progress by Igor Stravinsky, Eugene Onegin by Peter Tchaikosvky, Wozzek by Alban Berg, Ruslan and Lyudmila by Mikhail Glinka (Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow);
Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner (Mariinsky Theatre);
Aida by Giuseppe Verdi (Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre);
Boris Godunov by Modest Musorgsky, The Gambler by Sergey Prokofiev, The Tsar’s Bride by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (Berlin State Opera);
Khovanshchina by Modest Mussorgsky, Dialogues of the Carmelites by Francis Poulenc (Bavarian Opera, Munich);
Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi (Paris Opera);
Jenufa by Leoš Janáček (Zurich Opera);
La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi (Teatro alla Scala);
Simon Boccanegra by Giuseppe Verdi (English National Opera, London);
Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Aix-en-Provence Festival; Teatro Real, Madrid)
The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam; Teatro del Liceo, Barcelona);
Il trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi (La Monnaie, Brussels);
Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin (Metropolitan Opera, New York).