Bachtrack top ten: Antonio Vivaldi

By Mark Pullinger, 04 March 2023

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“a sinister atmosphere, reminiscent of the fog that shrouds Venice during the winter months”

Lawrence Dunn, 20th March

The young Polish harpsichordist with the Cohaere Ensemble talks about the Early music scene in Poland, her investigations into music of 18th-century Danzig, one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities.

Rare symphonies: Masaaki Suzuki returns to Singapore

Nahoko Gotoh, 19th March

Renowned Japanese conductor returns to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra to perform unusual music from Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda – an influence on Robert Schumann, who described him as “unique in the world of symphonies”.

Follow your ears: Ida Meidell on Early music in Scandinavia

Danny Riley, 27th February

We talk to Baroque violinist and folk fiddler Ida Meidell about being at the intersection of folk music and Early music, and the richness of the wider scene across Scandinavia.

Singing on the strings: Élodie Brzustowski on Early music in France

Danny Riley, 14th January

Lute player and guitarist Élodie Brzustowski talks about the challenges of the two-metre long theorbo, rediscovering guitar music of the 1830s, and the multifaceted Early music scene in France.

Dinosaurs of the Baroque: discovering Les Dinos et l’Arche

Lawrence Dunn, 2nd January

Thomas Leininger’s Baroque-inspired children’s opera at Geneva’s La Cité Bleue is a unique stylistic departure, which asks the essential question: what happened to the dinosaurs left off Noah’s Ark?

Music always circulates: António Godinho on Early music in Portugal

Eleanor Knight, 6th November

We talk to young recorder player António Godinho about the burgeoning Early music scene in Portugal – and the music of Vicente Lusitano, Europe’s earliest recorded composer of colour.

Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.