He was
born in Budapest, and at the
age of thirteen he emigrated with his family to Tel Aviv,
Israel.He started his musical career on the horn before going to London for further
studies in conducting.
He has won several conducting prizes and held many positions with
major orchestras. He was chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra from 1967 to 1971
and the Basel Symphony Orchestra from 1972 to 1986. He was also chief
conductor of orchestras in Tokyo, Nagoya, Dortmund and Rennes.