It has been announced that 36-year-old Tugan Sokhiev has signed a four-year contract with the Bolshoi Theatre to become the theatre's music director and chief conductor with immediate effect. Sokhiev replaces Vassily Sinaisky at the Bolshoi.

Sokhiev – who at the age of 24 was made music director of Welsh National Opera, a position he vacated after just a year-and-a-half – has made several outstanding recordings. His disc of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 4 with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse was a Gramophone Editor's Choice in January 2007, with critic Edward Seckerson concluding, 'I foresee a clutch of awards for this one.'

Sokhiev was awarded a second Gramophone Editor's Choice in April 2012 for his recording of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 5 with the same orchestra. Edward Seckerson noted, 'How refreshing in a work of such familiarity to find oneself unable to take a single bar for granted. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t the kind of performance which draws attention to itself, which somehow courts individuality, but rather one which re-evaluates how phrasing relates to sound in pursuit of the greatest spontaneity.'

In his official statement, Sokhiev said of his new appointment: 'I am delighted to become music director and chief conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre – one of the highest honours for any conductor. The Bolshoi has such a rich heritage and is one of the most prestigious theatres in the world. Together with my ongoing plans with my orchestras in Toulouse and Berlin, I look forward to working with my new colleagues in Moscow and to many wonderful music experiences in the years to come.'