Born in Galati, Romania, he began to play the piano at the age of five. From 1943, he studied at the Royal Music Academy in Bucharest, and at the Superior Higher Conservatoire in Paris (after having won a scholarship at George Enescu 's recommendation). He made his debut when he was 15 under the baton of George Georgescu with the Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra. He then became a soloist of this renowned orchestra in 1950, making numerous tours throughout Europe, the US, Canada, The Middle East, collaborating with major ensembles such as Dresden Staatskapelle, Suisse Romande Geneva, Bayerisches Rundfunk Orchester, ORTF, Gewandhaus - Leipzig, the philharmonics of Baltimore, Dresden, St. Petersburg, Moscow, FOK - Prague, Stockholm, Paris, London, Florence, Montreal, Tokyo, etc. , under prominent conductors such as Rafael Kubelik, Kurt Masur, Antal Dorati, Erich Leinsdorf, Simon Rattle, Lawrence Foster, John Pritchard, Stanislav Skrowachewsky, George Prêtre, Anatol Fistoulari, Kiril Kondrashin, Ferdinand Leitner, Seiji Ozawa, Constantin Silvestri, Sergiu Comissiona, etc. He has been invited at festivals in Prague, Salzburg, Dubrovnik, Bucharest (" George Enescu " ), and was also a jury member at pres - tigious competitions:"Van Cliburn" - USA, "Beethoven" - Vienna, "Tchaikovsky" - Moscow, "Chopin" - Warsaw, "Rubinstein" - Tel Aviv, "Busoni" - Bolzano, Montreal, Leeds, Santander and "Queen Elizabeth" - Brussels. He has recorded with the famous His Master 's Voice, Supraphon, Deutsche Grammophon, Eterna as well as Electrecord. He was the recipient of honours and prizes, Doctor Honoris Causa of the National University of Music, The State Award Laureate, the Enescu Prize, the Romanian Academy Award for composition, the Academy Award for life - long activity. Although his intense concert engagements have not allowed him to compose, he has managed to write several highly successful orchestral and chamber music works.

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