1981–1986: Music Director at the Teatro Regio in Parma and Principal Conductor of the ‘Arturo Toscanini’ Symphony Orchestra. 1986–1990: Principal Conductor and Music Director of the Koninklijk Filharmonisch Orkest van Vlaanderen in Antwerp. 1989–1995: General Music Director at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe. 1995–2002 General Music Director and Opera Director at the Theatre of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. 2008–2014 Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao. 2022–23 Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra.