An hour of The Thick of It and not an oath that didn't come fenced by quotation marks.

When Glyndebourne invited Jonathan Kent and Paul Brown to realise Purcell’s ‘semi-opera’ The Fairy Queen, it was with slight trepidation, as they had no idea how this amalgam of Purcell’s music and filletings from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream would go down.

One bar into this timely celebration of his work and the composer's identity could not be in doubt.

Eugène Ysaÿe's 1924 sonatas anticipate the memorial beauty of Karl Amadeus Hartmann's Suites for Unaccompanied Violin by three years and the desolate fury of Bartók's Sonata for Solo Violin by two decades.

Stravinsky's morality tale is given a spirited and purposeful reading by singers and orchestra alike

1. Indigo Lace Drum Lampshade

Enjoy a two-course meal in the RSC’s Rooftop Restaurant and Bar, followed by a performance in the Swan Theatre for just £30 per person

This serious, simple production of Handel's opera is strong on storytelling and character, but suffers from musical hiccups

1. Gothic Chair

In 1629, Rubens came to London to negotiate a treaty between England and Spain; that done, he was knighted by Charles I and arose as Sir Peter Paul.

A drawing by Rembrandt, valued at $250,000 (£152,000) has been stolen from a hotel in California.

Unlike the previous 15 volumes in Profile's excellent "Wonders of the World" series, this learned but lively book explores a site that "can be baffling, ugly and frustrating".

Conversazioni I presents a programme of baroque pieces reflecting the patronage of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, a well-connected young Venetian related to Pope Alexander VII who chose to indulge his passion for music through copious commissions of Albinoni, Handel, and both Scarlattis.

The gamine soprano follows up last year's Diva compilation with this excellent set on which she revisits the Baroque music that first drew her into performance.