Opera is dead. And has been for quite a long time. I don’t care what anybody says about Poulenc and Prokofiev, I cannot be persuaded that any listenable music theatre has been written since Puccini. (

Works by Gesualdo & composers of Naples Concerto Italiano/Rinaldo Alessandrini; Monica Piccinini (soprano); Maria Chiara Gallo (mezzo) et al Naïve OP8677 62:13 mins Don’t be deceived – Carlo Gesualdo

OF ALL THE cars this fabled designer is responsible for, his favourite may or may not surprise you. It’s the archly utilitarian Fiat Panda. But we’ll get to that. ‘It is somehow easy,’ he says, ‘to cr

Sun Triptych Maxim Rysanov, Dasol Kim, Roman Mints et al; BBC Concert Orchestra/ Dobrinka Tabakova ECM 4878558 64:61 mins This is the second ECM disc to feature the extremely accessible music of Bulga

The gargantuan, bewildering Louvre

Edward Brooke-Hitching Simon & Schuster 978-1-398-53240-3 256pp (hb) £30 This is a fascinating compendium of classical curiosities, thoroughly researched and charmingly written by Edward Brooke-Hitchi