With 2,442 artists from 36 nations set to perform, this year's Edinburgh International Festival offers a diverse range of classical, theatre, dance, opera and contemporary music – from the Barry Humphries' Weimer Cabaret (Usher Hall, 8 & 9 Aug) and Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs! (The Hub, 6 Aug–27 Aug) to the glacial soundscapes of Sigur Rós (Edinburgh Playhouse, 15 & 16 Aug) and dance company Holy Body Tattoo's collaboration with Godspeed You! Black Emperor: monumental (Edinburgh Playhouse, 8 & 9 Aug).

Speaking at the launch this morning, EIF director Fergus Linehan called this year's programme his 'difficult second album'. Following the success of the Harmonium Project last year, the festival will feature another large scale outdoor event, Deep Impact on 7 Aug, which will be projected onto Edinburgh Castle and Castle Rock with a specially compiled soundtrack of music by Scottish rock band Mogwai. Mogwai are also teaming up with Mark Cousins to provide a live soundtrack to archive footage from the nuclear age in Atomic: Living in Dread and Promise (Edinburgh Playhouse, 27 & 28 Aug).

Events will open with Sir Antonio Pappano conducting 'Italian Operatic and Choral Masterpieces' (Usher hall, 6 Aug) and end with the annual Virgin Fireworks Concert (Princes Street Gardens, 29 Aug). The many highlights include: world-renowned mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli taking the lead role in the Salzburg Festival’s reimagining of Bellini’s Norma (Festival Theatre, 5, 7 & 9 Aug); Cherry Jones in John Tiffany’s version of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie (King's Theatre, 5–Sun 21 Aug); two productions from Scotland's Vanishing Point: The Destroyed Room (The Lyceum, 4, 6–8 Aug) and Interiors (The Lyceum, 5–8 Aug); contemporary dance from award-winning Russian ballerina Natalia Osipova (Festival Theatre, 12–14 Aug); the BBC Symphony Orchestra celebrating the work of Pierre Boulez (Usher Hall, 12 Aug); Anohni, Oneohtrix Point Never and Hudson Mohawke's electronic collaboration Hopelessness (Edinburgh Playhouse, 17 & 18 Aug); and Senegalese super star Youssou N'Dour (Usher Hall, 24 Aug).

The Festival will be marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death with three innovative productions. A stripped back reworking of Measure for Measure (The Lyceum, 16-20 Aug) from Declan Donnellan’s Cheek by Jowl and Moscow’s Pushkin Theatre; Thomas Ostermeier and the Schaubühne Theatre’s gritty take on Richard III (The Lyceum, 24–28 Aug) and Twelfth Night moves to a 70s seaside resort and becomes Shake (The Lyceum, 11-13 Aug), from director Dan Jemmett.

Linehan said: ‘The International Festival is an invitation from the people of Scotland to people from all over the world to join us in an unparalleled celebration of creativity, virtuosity and originality. The calibre, ambition and passion of the artists and ensembles in this year’s programme combined with Edinburgh’s electric Festival atmosphere, will make for an unforgettable experience for newcomers and International Festival veterans alike.’

Various venues, Edinburgh, Fri 5–Mon 29 Aug.