He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2016 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to music. He is a pianist in London, England.
He was noted for his mastery of the Austrian and German composers of the late 18th and 19th centuries, especially Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms.
He preferred to use a chair instead of a piano bench when he played.
He studied at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. His career was launched when he won the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the George Enescu International Competition, and the Leeds International Piano Competition.