Bachtrack top ten: Shakespeare in music

William Shakespeare, the “flower portrait” (1609)

By Mark Pullinger, 23 April 2026

Loading, please wait...

“If music be the food of love, play on; give me excess of it...”

Related content

Mark Pullinger, 9th October

Giuseppe Verdi was more than just an opera composer. He became a political figurehead. Our playlist includes nine of his most famous operas and his Requiem, described as “an opera in ecclesiastical garb”.

Bachtrack top ten: Antonín Dvořák

Mark Pullinger, 8th September

Johannes Brahms was a big supporter of Antonín Dvořák and justly so, for the Czech master, who made it big in America, composed music full of bucolic good humour and Romantic richness.

One charming night: Paul Agnew on Purcell’s Fairy Queen

Bachtrack, 5th September

Les Arts Florissants’ new production combines choreography from Mourad Merzouki with the vocal ensemble Les Jardins des Voix, turning Purcell’s fantastical work into a sung ballet.

Bachtrack top ten: Sergei Prokofiev

Mark Pullinger, 27th April

“I detest imitation, I detest hackneyed devices.” Prokofiev was one of the most important Russian composers, writing in a variety of forms and happy to challenge conventions.

Bachtrack top ten: Felix Mendelssohn

Mark Pullinger, 3rd February

Child prodigy, keen traveller, champion of Bach – Felix Mendelssohn packed a lot of music into his short life, music that teems with freshness and vigour.

Bachtrack top ten: Ralph Vaughan Williams

Mark Pullinger, 12th October

Mark Pullinger celebrates this quintessentially English composer with a list of RVW's most inspiring works.

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.