Mission impossible: How to turn The Wasp Factory into an opera
Ahead of the Royal Opera House premiere of The Wasp Factory, librettist David Pountney reveals the challenges of adapting Iain Banks's novel for the stage
Hildegard of Bingen: The Woman of Her Age by Fiona Maddocks – review
Lettie Ransley welcomes the reissue of Fiona Maddocks's hugely enjoyable life of Hildegard of Bingen
Rewind radio: TS Eliot’s India; Twenty Minutes – The Planets; In Search of Nic Jones; Book of the Week – The Sea Inside – review
The roots of TS Eliot's quintessentially English masterpiece, The Waste Land, lie far from home, in India, writes Sean O'Hagan
Free download of rediscovered Britten and Auden song
Lost for 60 years, Britten's music for the Auden poem Roman Wall Blues has now been completed, published and recorded – and can be downloaded, free of charge
Edinburgh festival 2013: our critics’ picks
Crockery-jugglers, cancer comedy and a church full of comics – plus Richard Burton and Frank Zappa come back from the dead. Our critics select the hottest shows at this year's Edinburgh festival
On my radar: John Simm’s cultural highlights
The actor on listening to Lloyd Cole, watching Man of Steel and reading Stoner by John Williams
Hänsel und Gretel – review
A light, sugar-coated interpretation of the Grimm fairytale that should have opera-lovers licking their lips, writes George Hall
On my radar: Rebecca Front
The actress and writer tells Gemma Kappala–Ramsamy her current cultural highlights
Raven Girl/Symphony in C; iTMOi – review
Wayne McGregor and Audrey Niffenegger join forces in a fairytale told in images rather than dance, writes Luke Jennings
The Society of Timid Souls by Polly Morland – review
Polly Morland's study of bravery is full of energy, curiosity and courage, writes Kate Kellaway
The Love and Wars of Lina Prokofiev by Simon Morrison – review
A biography of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev's troubled wife is forensically detailed – but with vast Siberian silences, writes Lettie Ransley
Six novelists on their favourite second artform
Writers often worry about the dangers of outside influence, but what about the non-literary inspirations they are far more comfortable admitting to? Andrew O'Hagan talks to six novelists about their passion for a second artform
RPS awards: Stockhausen’s helicopters and the Guardian’s Tom Service
Nominations for the classical music industry's most respected annual gongs, the Royal Philharmonic Society awards, have been announced
Rewind radio: Bowie and Beyond: A Music Fan’s Guide to Berlin; Adam Buxton on David Bowie; Mark Thomas: Bravo Figaro; Making News; Messy, Isn’t It? The Life and Works of Richard Brautigan – review
A superb Bowie bonanza was eclipsed by Mark Thomas's tribute to his dying dad, writes Miranda Sawyer