Mozart in Italy by Jane Glover review – the making of a master
An account of the teenage Mozart’s operatic awakening is packed with humanising detail
Living the Beatles Legend by Kenneth Womack review – a long and winding roadie’s tale
He saved them from a car crash, snuck them drugs and inspired Let It Be… The detailed story of the Fab Four’s driver, bodyguard and confidant Mal Evans captures Beatlemania up close
On my radar: Chris Bush’s cultural highlights
The award-winning playwright on one of pop’s most extraordinary voices, role-playing drag queens and the scathing wit of her favourite foodie website
‘Fela Kuti was always in his pants’: legendary music photographer Val Wilmer’s greatest shoots
She ate fried chicken with BB King, gave Jimi Hendrix a lift home from a gig and accidentally worked for MI6. The pioneer recalls her favourite subjects – and the ones like Miles Davis she’d rather forget
Newly discovered string quartet by Clockwork Orange author Anthony Burgess to have premiere
The Manchester-born author was a frustrated composer who often wrote about music. Now his previously unknown work for strings will find an audience
‘They’ll see she was extraordinary’: Callas centenary inspires new generation to find the real Maria
Films, shows and a new museum seek to capture the charisma of the great soprano
My Name Is Barbra review – Streisand’s story: mystical, messy, bawdy and funny
Barbra Streisand’s eloquent and commanding memoir reveals her insecurities along with a hunger for fame and complete control
Karma by Boy George review – loud, vainglorious and very funny
Relentless rants, endless score-settling and a stint in prison – the singer’s (latest) memoir recounts a life lived at a higher frequency
Listen: On Music, Sound and Us by Michel Faber review – bum notes
The author of Under the Skin’s eccentric take on music fails to reverberate
Manchester Unspun: How a City Got High on Music by Andy Spinoza – from Cottonopolis to Manc-hattan
A hugely entertaining account of the city’s resurrection over four decades, relayed by a well-connected former journalist, focuses on the catalytic role of Factory Records and the Haçienda
The Time Traveller’s Wife review – eternal romance is a bumpy ride
Joss Stone and Dave Stewart’s strangely forgettable score does little to lift this musical but there are some wonderful set pieces
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again) by Sly Stone review – funk, fame and addiction
The genre-bending musician has an astonishing story to tell – but wrestling it into a conventional narrative doesn’t quite work
Caroline Gilfillan obituary
Other lives: Poet and writer who explored feminist themes, including with the all-female 1970s band the Stepney Sisters
Rock biographer Philip Norman: ‘It took me years to understand the paradox of George Harrison’
After books on Lennon and McCartney, the author turns to the contradictory ‘quiet Beatle’ – whose acid tongue and sexual buccaneering coexisted with mantras and prayer wheels
In brief: Listen; The Temple of Fortuna; Poor Things – review
Novelist Michel Faber turns his hand to a captivating study of music; a thrilling conclusion to a historical fiction trilogy set in Rome; and a timely reissue of Alasdair Gray’s classic