— CLASSICAL

GRAFFITI CLASSICS

Quickfire virtuosic concoction of dancing, singing and clowning.
Pleasance Dome, Aug 9-17

BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

There are two great reasons to catch the BBC SSO. First, Messiaën’s anniversary is recognised with a performance of Éclairs sur l’au-delà. Second, it’s another chance to hear Thomas Adès’s stunning Tevot.
Usher Hall, Aug 10

CHANT WARS

A week of tea-time concerts exploring the traditional choral music of medieval Europe and the Middle East.
Greyfriars Kirk, Aug 11-15

GABRIELA MONTERO

Two recitals by the impulsive Venezuelan pianist. At the Queen’s Hall, she mixes Chopin with Bach, and Debussy with Schumann. At the Hub, she invites festival punters to suggest themes that she will skilfully adapt.
Queen’s Hall, Aug 12 (11am); The Hub (10.30pm)

PROKOFIEV CYCLE

Valery Gergiev’s biggest contribution to this year’s festival is not his team-up with the Maryinsky Opera, but this LSO series. And it’s a corker – all the Prokofiev symphonies, partnered by both his violin concertos and the Sinfonia Concertante for Cello and Orchestra. Intense Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos plays the concertos .
Usher Hall, Aug 15-17

MONTEVERDI CHOIR

John Eliot Gardiner’s expert choristers present Brahms’s German Requiem prefaced by a stunning piece of German funeral music from a much earlier era – Heinrich Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien.
Usher Hall, Aug 19

BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA

Iván Fischer’s scintillating orchestra always plays with verve and individual brilliance. This year their residency is particularly exciting, taking in all aspects of gypsy music from the sounds of the fiddle and cimbalom to Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies and some of Bartók’s rawest explorations of folk style.
Usher Hall, Aug 23, 25; Queen’s Hall, Aug 24

BEAUX ARTS TRIO

Last appearance in Edinburgh of the superb American piano trio that first appeared here in 1960. Mendelssohn, Kurtag and Beethoven should provide an unmissable farewell to one of the greatest combos of the 20th century.
Queen’s Hall, Aug 30

— POP

NOUVELLE VAGUE

These Parisians continue to prove there are few songs not improved by being remade with a whispery vocal and bossa nova rhythm and accordion.
The Liquid Room , Aug 7

SAM SPARRO

Cheeky new prince of disco who found his feet in LA’s gay club scene.
The Liquid Room, Aug 18

SANTOGOLD

Like her best friend MIA and quirky No 1 fan Björk, the rapper Santogold is as out there as her outfits.
The Liquid Room, Aug 19

DIZZEE RASCAL

Bow’s crown prince of grime is back at the top of his game after recently topping the charts with the superb Dance Wiv Me.
The Liquid Room, Aug 21

VAMPIRE WEEKEND

Who would have thought that the surprise hit of Glastonbury would be four Ivy League fans of Bach and Afrobeat?
Edinburgh Corn Exchange, Aug 24

CLARE AND THE REASONS

Gorgeously swoonsome, sepia-toned pop from this fantastic Juilliard-trained Brooklyn quintet headed by Clare Muldaur Manchon.
Cabaret Voltaire, Aug 25

— THEATRE

PORNOGRAPHY

Simon Stephens’s new play about the Olympic announcement and the devastation of 7/7.
Traverse 1, July 28-Aug 24

DEEP CUT

Philip Ralph’s play about the deaths of young soldiers at Deepcut barracks.
Traverse 2, July 31-Aug 24

IN CONFLICT

US play looks at the war in Iraq.
Assembly Rooms, July 31-Aug 25

SURVIVING SPIKE

John Barrymore plays Spike Milligan in Richard Harris’s dramatic biography.
Assembly Rooms, July 31-Aug 25

TERMINUS

Abbey Theatre, Dublin, stages Mark O’Rowe’s latest about serial killers, avenging angels and lovesick demons.
Traverse 1, Aug 1-Aug 24

DYBBUK

Polish cast performs Krzysztof Warlikowski’s version of Szymon’s Anski’s play.
King’s, Aug 9-11

THE TELLTALE HEART

Australian company adapts and performs Edgar Allan Poe.
Lyceum, Aug 9-11

— DANCE

STATE BALLET OF GEORGIA

Georgia’s national company comes to Edinburgh Festival with two programmes. The first is Giselle, with the great Nina Ananiashvili in the title role at several performances. The second is a mixed bill of Balanchine and Ratmansky.
Edinburgh Playhouse, Aug 9-13

STEVE REICH EVENING

The Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker showcases seven of her pieces set to the chugging rhythms and lush atmospherics of Reich’s music.
Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Aug 15-17

MORTAL ENGINE

The Australian troupe Chunky Move presents the European premiere of Mortal Engine, exploring mortality, sexuality and desire. As they perform, the dancers trigger light patterns and sounds so the show looks different every night.
Edinburgh Playhouse, Aug 17-19

— OPERA

RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY

No one knows their Weill better than HK Gruber, who conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in this concert performance for the opening night of the International Festival. The wonderful Susan Bickley plays the grasping Leocadia Begbick, Giselle Allen is the prostitute Jenny Hill, and Anthony Dean Griffey the tragic hero.
Usher Hall, Aug 8

THE TWO WIDOWS

Scottish Opera returns to the International Festival with its newly appointed music director, Francesco Corti. He has chosen to inaugurate his tenure with Smetana’s charming comedy of manners, performed in David Pountney’s English translation. The cast is led by Jane Irwin and Kate Valentine.
Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Aug 9-12

KRÓL ROGER

Valery Gergiev brings Szymanowki’s 1926 opera to Edinburgh with the Maryinsky Opera. It’s an intoxicating blend of Nietzschean philosophy, medieval history and perfumed orientalism. Gergiev has imported an authentically Polish production from Opera Wroclawska, directed by Mariusz Trelinski. Andrzej Dobber plays the eponymous monarch.
Edinburgh Festival Theatre (0131-473 2000), Aug 25, 27

— COMEDY

ANDREW LAWRENCE

Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There! Last year’s most improved comedian – and he rightly nabbed an if.comedy nomination for his troubles – on how ambition is for losers.
Pleasance Courtyard, from July 30

REGINALD D. HUNTER

No Country for Old Men The charismatic comic from Georgia seduces and provokes in equal measure.
Pleasance Courtyard, from July 30

TIM VINE – PUNSLINGER

For pure, unalloyed fun Vine is hard to beat.
Pleasance Courtyard, from July 30

BILL BAILEY

A superstar one-nighter.
Edinburgh Playhouse, Aug 14

NINA CONTI

A ventriloquist with charm and ambition – and if director Sean Foley (from the Right Size) can help her to focus her experimental urges, this could be her best show yet.
Pleasance Courtyard, from July 30

- VISUAL ARTS

JANET CARDIFF AND GEORGE BURE MILLER

Enchanting installations using sound, objects and images to engage all the senses.
The Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street (www.fruitmarket.co.uk 0131-225 2383), Jul 31-Sept 28

RICHARD WILSON

Drawings, four film works and sculpture investigating the working process of this visionary artist.
The Grey Gallery, 10 Old Broughton (www.thegreygallery.com 07910 359086), Aug 1-31

TRACEY EMIN: 20 YEARS

The first retrospective for the artist with works ranging from My Bed to paintings and prints.
The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, 75 Belford Road (www.nationalgalleries.org 0131-624 6200), Aug 2-Nov 9

IMPRESSIONISM AND SCOTLAND

Works by the biggest names of Impressionism, from Manet to Monet, Renoir to Whistler, Van Gogh to Gauguin and many more, plus the Scottish painters they inspired.
National Gallery of Scotland, The Mound, (www.nationalgalleries.org 0131-624 6200), Jul 19-Oct 12

ANDREW GRASSIE: PAINTING

The first major Scottish (and thus homecoming) solo show of this most painterly of painters.
Talbot Rice, University of Edinburgh, South Bridge (www.trg.ed.ac.uk 0131-650 2210), Aug 1-Sept 27

FOTO: MODERNITY IN CENTRAL EUROPE – 1918-1945

Investigates the crucial role played by photography in the development of Modernism.
Dean Gallery, 75 Belford Road (www.nationalgalleries.org 0131-624 6200), until Aug 31

VANITY FAIR PORTRAITS

Gorgeous works by Annie Leibowitz and Cecil Beaton.
Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street (www.nationalgalleries.org 0131-624 6200), until Sept 21

THE ART OF ITALY IN THE ROYAL COLLECTION: THE RENAISSANCE

Show celebrating the artistic legacy of Charles I and Charles II, with work by da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian.
Queen’s Gallery, Palace of Holyrood House, Canongate, The Royal Mile (www.royalcollection.org.uk 0131-556 5100), until Oct 26