Recorded with period specialists Orchestra La Scintilla with the intention of replicating Bellini's original vocal and instrumental colours, this Norma is a thrilling affair, with Cecilia Bartoli afforded full space to wreak emotional havoc as the titular Gallic druid seer trapped in a web of deceit with the proconsul of the occupying Roman forces.

Singer Katherine Jenkins has parted company with her record label but said she is "excited" about her next move.

Middle-class problems

Do you have to be a diva to take on Tosca?

First, a seasonal recommendation, for though decorations are down and detoxes are underway, blow me down if I haven't found just the thing to soundtrack this bleak midwinter: Pedestrian Verse from Scots rockers Frightened Rabbit. Out in early February, it sees their marriage of grimly poetic lyrics and gustily anthemic choruses more on point than ever.

Sex symbol-turned-animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot is threatening to join actor Gerard Depardieu in Russian exile unless France halts the scheduled euthanasia of two sick circus elephants.

While there's a limit to how many times one can watch old clips from Later… or the sublime-to-ridiculous Porchester Hall show, you can't deny the power of this three-DVD-plus-one-CD collection.

It's always been difficult to discern the point of Ellie Goulding. She initially appeared merely a younger, vaguely indie Dido, but two albums in she's attempting something her contemporaries have already nailed: combining emotive histrionics with expensive orchestras.

“Go baby, go baby go, don’t upset the rhythm though,” screeches Shingai Shoniwa above the roars of the crowd cheering on Ben Ainslie’s gold in the sailing and a sublime Andy Murray backhand in the tennis.

Four years ago, she was the new Republican sensation, the most electrifying vice-presidential nominee in recent history. Now, it seems, Sarah Palin may not even be granted an official speaking slot at the party's coronation of Mitt Romney in Tampa, Florida, at the end of next month.

It is as influential and manipulative as Simon Cowell. And, as psych-trance enthusiasts are wont to declaim at house parties, it's just as responsible FOR THE DEATH OF MUSIC. Few technological advancements outside of a nuclear arms race have been as divisive as Auto-Tune.

Perhaps it was for the best that no one chose to copy the meat dress. After all, the "little monsters", as Lady Gaga's army of fans call themselves, did not seem to be struggling for wardrobe options when they turned out in Seoul for the start of their idol's world tour.

Fashion: A warm Current is blowing in

Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann is a long and convoluted work which usually comes over as an implausible amalgam of Faust and Coppelia.