Mark Pullinger
@larkingrumple
Music critic, editor, programme note writer. Happy to be ambushed by cake. Best when caffeinated.
Early morning hike up the castle (where Richard the Lionheart was once imprisoned)
Jerry Lee Lewis meets Beyoncé: Omer Meir Wellber enjoys an energetic workout with DKam at the BBC Proms bachtrack.com/review-wellb...
Loved the Sinfonia of London's Roman holiday at the Proms (even if Audrey Hepburn was nowhere to be seen) bachtrack.com/review-wilso...
This was a fascinating chat... a deep dive into Mozart soprano roles – especially Susanna and the Countess – with Louise Alder: bachtrack.com/interview-lo...
And they're off! Silky Ravel from Yunchan Lim to kick off the BBC Proms... bachtrack.com/review-first...
“Music keeps me young!” Happy 99th birthday to Herbert Blomstedt! 🥳 I have fond memories of a 2020 interview where he sang much of Schubert's Great C major Symphony to me down the phone! bachtrack.com/interview-he...
Back at @wigmore-hall.org.uk, this time for Sonya Yoncheva’s hall debut: Italian songs in the first half, Puccini operatic bangers in the second…
Extra time (but no penalties) in last night's Wigmore Hall recital, a showcase for Julia Lezhneva with Il Giardino Armonico. Guess how many encores she sang! bachtrack.com/review-lezhn...
“It’s not just a vocal performance. It’s a show!” This was fun! Chatted with Nadine Sierra for the cover story in the summer issue of Score, @wigmore-hall.org.uk’s magazine. Ahead of her hall debut, we talk roles, repertoire… and gowns! 💃🏻
Weeping willows and a cavatina: the @quatuorebene.bsky.social’s Beethoven reviewed at @wigmore-hall.org.uk They're playing another Beethoven programme this evening, so get booking! bachtrack.com/review-quatu...
Love in the Cotswolds: Tristan und Isolde, reviewed at Longborough Festival Opera bachtrack.com/review-trist...
Bel canto singing to crown a new golden age: my review of Covent Garden's new Puritani 👇 bachtrack.com/review-purit...
Ruzan Mantashyan is, quite simply, one of the greatest Tatyanas in the world right now. And currently singing it at the Grange Festival (a casting coup!) My opening night review 👇 bachtrack.com/review-eugen...
It sounds as if Anna Netrebko's Royal Opera House recital was pretty much the ‘Night and Day’ programme she gave at the Spanish Riding School during the pandemic. A Met Opera fundraiser. Those were the days... bachtrack.com/review-netre...
Well, this OAE concert last night was a very nice way to bring up my 1000th article published on @bachtrack.com (nearly 800 of those are reviews, plus plenty of interviews and playlists) bachtrack.com/review-emely...
Thinking of pitching a tent at Grange Park Opera this weekend: catching up with my favourite opera, Don Carlo, today, and then reviewing Rheingold for Opera Now tomorrow. The heat is on! 🔥🔥🔥 © Marc Brenner
The earth moved for me! Immersed in Mahler @sinfoniasmithsq.bsky.social bachtrack.com/review-child...
“I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer.” Richard Strauss was born OTD in 1864. Here are ten of my favourites, all first-rate: bachtrack.com/playlist-top...
Some fabulous singing in the Grange Festival's Giulio Cesare, but David Alden's staging has the feel of a cheap McVicar knock-off bachtrack.com/review-giuli...
Lots of clarinet in my Carl Maria von Weber top ten playlist (he died 200 years ago today). Also contains Maria Callas and Jonas Kaufmann (yes, really) bachtrack.com/playlist-top...
Thoroughly absorbed by the UK premiere of Missy Mazzoli's Proving Up @guildhallschool.bsky.social. It's a show that deserves a bigger audience: bachtrack.com/review-mazzo...