Handel’s favourite: this week’s classical highlights

Friday, April 6th

Theodora

Clonard Monastery, Belfast 7.30pm £10/£15/£10 bit.ly/2G89UxA; also Sat, Derry; Sun, Dublin

Theodora, Handel's other Christian oratorio, was as great a failure as Messiah was a success. But Handel's dramatic treatment of the fourth century martyrdom of saints Theodora and Didymus was the composer's favourite among his oratorios, and public opinion has gravitated over time in the work's favour. It's found a place in the opera house, too, and the performances that bring together the young voices of Belfast's Sestina and the Irish Baroque Orchestra, will have a concert staging by Caolan Keaveney and Mark Chambers. Chambers also conducts, and the soloists are Charlotte Trepass (Theodora), Joseph Zubier (Didymus), Peter Harris (Septimius), Aaron O'Hare (Valens) and Laura Lamph (Irene).

Let’s Make Music!

The Model, Sligo 8pm €20/€10 bit.ly/2GptIMh The Far Flung Trio brings together a violinist (Katherine Hunka), an accordionist (Dermot Dunne) and a double-bassist (Malachy Robinson). The repertoire the group take to Sligo embraces popular classics (arrangements of Rossini's Barber of Seville Overture, Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy and Slavonic Dances by Dvorák) as well as Gershwin and music from South America – pieces by the Argentinian tango master Astor Piazzolla and choros from Brazil.