Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre returns

Moscow's Bolshoi, the most famous theatre in the world, opens its doors after a multi–million pound refit. (BBC)

If you had decorative carved mouldings covered in 3,000 square feet of gold leaf to clean, how would you do it?

The obvious answer, as when Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre was being given its final lick, is to use vodka for polish and a squirrel’s tail for a cloth. What else would befit this famous theatre, which is about to enter a new era after a six-year, £450-million renovation?

Some theatres look smaller on the outside than they really are. The Bolshoi is not one of them – Bolshoi literally me