GIG OF THE WEEK
West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival
Friday, November 12th, to Sunday, November 14th; Russborough House, Blessington, Co Wicklow; €38 (students €19); westwicklowfestival.com
Get ready for some wonderful classical sounds in the stunning surrounds of Russborough House as West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival launches its inaugural Winter Weekend mini-festival, a short and snappy addition to its usual summer bounty. Guests include the star Latvian duo Kristine and Margarita Balanas, the mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty, the violinist Mairéad Hickey and the pianist Gary Beecher. The event is curated by the festival's founder, the Wicklow pianist Fiachra Garvey, who'll be opening proceedings with Hickey on the Friday night at 8pm. The duo will perform four pieces for piano and violin: sonatas by Brahms, Debussy, Richard Strauss and the Irish composer Deirdre McKay. On Saturday at 8pm, the Balanas sisters will make their debut Irish performance, demonstrating the virtuosity on violin and cello that has captivated audiences all over the world, performing pieces by JS Bach, Ravel, Handel, Vivaldi and the Latvian composer Peteris Vasks, as well as a new arrangement by the Irish composer Anne-Marie O'Farrell entitled A Russborough Diversion. On Sunday at 3pm, Carty and Beecher will bring the weekend to a suitably stirring close with a programme that focuses on the pure beauty of music, with songs by Schubert, Grieg and Debussy, along with some familiar and fondly regarded Irish and English songs.
Dara Ó Briain: So … Where Were We?
Wednesday, November 10th, to Saturday, November 13th, and Wednesday, November 17th, to Saturday, November 20th; Vicar St, Dublin; 8:30pm; €36; daraobriain.com
Coming to the end of his world tour of his stand-up show Voice of Reason, in March 2020, Dara Ó Briain was looking forward to a good long break. He never imagined it would last more than 18 months. Now he plans to pick up where he left off, and continue chatting about whatever seemed important in the before-times. With Covid permeating every aspect of our lives, he's going to find it hard to avoid referring to the C-word at some stage in the show, but he can promise a masterclass in quickfire comedy. After this run of shows at Vicar St, he'll be heading for Wexford, Limerick, Cork, Killarney and Castlebar.
And So I Watch You From Afar
Friday, November 12th; Roisin Dubh, Galway; 8pm; €20/€18; Saturday, November 13th; Cyprus Avenue, Cork; 7pm; €17.50; asiwyfa.com
It's 12 years since the Belfast instrumental band released their self-titled debut album, and what better way to celebrate than to get back on the road doing what they do best: transporting audiences with their transcendent, wordless art-rock sounds? Fans will get to hear tracks from that classic debut, along with other genre-twisting tunes from a over a decade of releases. Last month the band staged a performance of their innovative live project Jettison at London's South Bank Centre. This hugely ambitious multimedia show was designed to "create a moment of escapism for us all", say the band, but since the pandemic the project has also come to represent "companionship, resilience, commitment, healing".
Paul Brady
Saturday, November 13th; National Concert Hall; €40; nch.ie
The NCH has added two new shows to its Refractions series, starting with the bona-fide national music icon Paul Brady on Saturday and continuing with the brotherly duo Ye Vagabonds on November 28th. Brady, who is now 74, performed in October with Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny and Kevin Burke, and he'll embark on a full Irish tour early in the new year. It's 20 years since Brady played a record-breaking 23 consecutive shows at Vicar St. This NCH show will demonstrate that he's still a musical force to be reckoned with.
Interference featuring Glen Hansard
Sunday, November 14th; Cyprus Avenue, Cork; 7pm; €35; cyprusavenue.ie
Five years after the untimely death of the Interference singer and creative force Fergus O'Farrell, the Irish band are once again in the spotlight with the November 19th release of the documentary film Breaking Out. Named best film documentary at Galway Film Fleadh, and winner of the George Morrison feature documentary award at the Iftas, it charts the band's career from their early days in Dublin, and O'Farrell's song Gold being used in the soundtrack for John Carney's 2007 movie Once, starring Hansard and Marketa Irglova, their renowned gig the following year at Radio City Music Hall with Hansard and Irglova's band The Swell Season, all the way to the recording sessions for O'Farrell's final album before his sudden death, in 2016. The band are teaming up with Hansard again for this Cork show in tribute to O'Farrell, as well as for shows in Dublin and Galway.
