Bachtrack top ten: Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev with Dmitri Shostakovich and Aram Khachaturian

By Mark Pullinger, 27 April 2023

Loading, please wait...

“I detest imitation, I detest hackneyed devices”

Roy Westbrook, 22nd July

The LSO’s Principal Guest Conductor talks about his passion for two titans of Russian and Soviet music – and how to decode Shostakovich’s more cryptic and troublesome symphonies.

Darkness and pathos: Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand

Lawrence Dunn, 7th March

Pianist Nicholas McCarthy, who was born without a right hand, talks about his intimate relationship with one of Ravel’s most enigmatic works.

Anarchy and utopia: Calixto Bieito on directing Mussorgsky

Richard Bratby, 24th February

The iconoclastic Spanish director talks about a new production of Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina in Geneva – and the messy, anarchic, utopian struggle of directing opera.

Improvisations on Scriabin and Scarlatti: Julius Asal

Jessica Duchen, 9th August

The young German pianist talks about his distinctive improvisatory approach to combining sonatas of Scarlatti and Scriabin, on a 2024 release for Deutsche Grammophon.

Cinderella Man: Tom Pye on designing sets for Covent Garden

Jonathan Gray, 13th March

Tom Pye has drawn inspiration from the magical fairytale illustrations of Edmund Dulac and Arthur Rackham with his new set designs for Frederick Ashton's Cinderella.

The vulnerability of being centre stage: Alexandra Segal

Hilary Stroh, 3rd October

This year's winner in the Piano Category of the George Enescu International Competition opens up about the challenges of being in the spotlight and what now lies ahead of her.

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.