Rossini’s Barber of Seville is packed with showstoppers; but when did we last see it cast at such strength, sung with such tongue and vocal chord twisting relish, and conducted with such panache that every number did just that – stopped the show? Answer: the current revival of Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s wild and wacky staging at the Royal Opera House.

Valencia president Vicente Soriano has dismissed reports suggesting that Real Madrid are lining up a mega-bid for David Villa, David Silva, Juan Mata and Raul Albiol.

Ricky Sbragia feels Sunderland is a happier place to manage after ridding the club of the dressing room dissenters and whisperers. During the transfer window Sbragia stamped his mark on the squad, trimming it to what he now describes as a "workable" level.

Real Madrid’s Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has distanced himself from rumours linking him with a move away from the Bernabeu in the January transfer window.

Sevilla winger Diego Capel has vowed to remain with his current club for the foreseeable future, despite having been linked with a big-money switch to Real Madrid.

Sevilla are set to be without winger Diego Capel for around a month after the winger injured his groin while on international duty with Spain.

The history of President Records, one of the first independent labels in the UK, is inextricably linked to that of music publisher Edward Kassner. Born in Austria to Jewish parents in 1920, Edward dreamed of becoming a composer but his orchestral aspirations were cut short when Hitler annexed Austria.

“He was tipped off by his friends that they were rounding up Jewish boys,” says David Kassner, Edward’s eldest son and now MD of President. “He fled through Belgium and got caught trying to cross the border at Aachen twice. On the third occasion a German soldier caught him but let him go saying that he hadn’t signed up to shoot young boys.”

Old Seville dances to a new tune

With just a touch of the Addams Family about its Mudéjar façade, the Alfonso XIII dominates Seville's historic centre. It was built to house super-rich visitors to the Great Ibero-American Exhibition of 1929. Unfortunately, that was upstaged by the even greater Wall Street Crash of the same year, and the empty hotel positively echoed. The Alfonso has come a long way since, winning awards and hosting such luminaries as Angelina Jolie.

Celtic fans take note – Barcelona had nine absentees at the weekend and coach Frank Rijkaard still chose to start without Ronaldinho. And when the Brazilian did appear for the second half his performance showed exactly why he had been left out in the first place.

Ask your guide to take you to the sights you really want to see. That's the idea of a new service on offer in this Andalucian city. Adrian Mourby put it to the test

The BBC has for too long been obsessed with pandering to "white middle-class liberals in London" at the expense of working class right-wingers in the country.