Sylvia O’Brien (soprano), RTÉ NSO/ Matthew Wood

NCH, Dublin Tonight 8pm €10-€35 01-4170000

LOUGHCREW GARDEN OPERA/DAVID BROPHY LOUGHCREW

Gardens, Oldcastle, Co Meath Tonight/tomorrow 8pm €79, €99 049-8541356

JOANNE WALSH (SOPRANO), ROBERT CRAIG (TENOR), SABINE DUCROT (FLUTE), GOOD WORKS OPERA, NICOLE PANIZZA (PIANO), MICHAEL JOYCE (PIANO)

Triskel Christchurch, Cork Tomorrow 8pm €15

Opera is in the air this weekend. South African soprano Soprano Sarah-Jane Brandon, who took second prize at the 2010 Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition (behind another South African, Pumeza Matshikiza), has had to withdraw from what would have been her conect debut with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra under Matthew Wood tonight. Her place is taken by Irish soprano Sylvia O’Brien (pictured). The programme, which includes arias by Mozart, Dvorák and Massenet, remains unchanged.

Niall Morris directs Johann Strauss's Die Fledermausfor Loughcrew Garden Opera this weekend, with a cast that includes

Cara O’Sullivan, Claudia Boyle, Imelda Drumm and Gavan Ring. And Triskel Christchurch in Cork is the venue for a Stars of Good Works Opera Charity Gala Night in aid of the Irish Heart Foundation on Saturday.