Bachtrack top ten: Francis Poulenc

Francis Poulenc with Marcelle Meyer, Jean Cocteau and members of Les Six

By Mark Pullinger, 07 January 2024

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“Poulenc’s personality was much more complex than what met the eye... he was entirely paradoxical”

Lawrence Dunn, 4th September

Mezzo-soprano Jessica Gillingwater and tenor Peter Davoren reveal how demanding being a member of the BBC Singers is – and how they approach singing such a wide variety of music.

Anna Lapwood: top ten organ works

Anna Lapwood, 24th August

Star organist, conductor and broadcaster Anna Lapwood is our guest curator, presenting her top ten – for today – favourites works for her instrument.

Soprano on hold: Danielle de Niese on filming La Voix humaine

Mark Pullinger, 6th April

Poulenc on primetime: Francis Poulenc's opera, based on Cocteau's play, comes to the small screen this Easter, filmed on location in Paris and starring soprano Danielle de Niese.

Bachtrack top ten: Frédéric Chopin

Mark Pullinger, 1st March

Ten works revealing the paradox of Chopin: a composer outwardly delicate, inwardly steely; rooted in Polish dance rhythms, yet formed in Parisian sophistication.

Bachtrack top ten: Gaetano Donizetti

Mark Pullinger, 29th November

A hugely successful composer of bel canto opera, Gaetano Donizetti had a lasting impact, with many of his operas entering regular rotation in houses around the world for almost 200 years.

Bachtrack top ten: Johann Strauss II

Mark Pullinger & Elisabeth Schwarz, 25th October

Music ran through the veins of Johann Strauss II and – despite his father’s opposition – he went on to compose many of the greatest waltzes ever.

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.