Art Song Series, The Pheasantry, Chelsea

Fancy a side order of Schubert with your Sloppy Giuseppe? Or Rachmaninov with your rigatoni? Maybe some Mendelssohn with your Margherita? Then head down to the Pheasantry in the King’s Road, Chelsea, for the first in a series of Pizza Express art song evenings, featuring some very starry names on the menu.

Matthew Rose, recognised as one of Britain’s finest basses, opened the series on 8 January with Schubert’s searing song cycle, Die Winterreise, accompanied by acclaimed pianist William Vann, who is also curating these monthly events. Winterreise is the ultimate wanderer’s tale, the protagonist embarking on a journey through a winter landscape that leads him to question both his own identity and the meaning of life.

Equally emotionally intense are the songs of Sergei Rachmaninov. Soprano Julia Sitkovetsky and mezzo-soprano Martha McLorinan will sing a selection of the great composer’s work in An Evening of Russian Song (7 Feb), again with William Vann at the piano.

Pianist William Vann accompanies all three recitals at the Pheasantry. Photo: Benjamin Ealovega

Closing this debut series (6 March), baritone Gareth Brynmor John will join Vann in songs for and about children, by Brahms, Howells, Ives, Lehmann, Loewe, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann, Stanford and Warlock. The pair travel through a world of fairy tales, adventures, nursery rhymes and lullabies culminating in Richard Rodney Bennett’s Songs before Sleep, a decidedly grown-up set of musings on the world of children.

Now, what shall we have for dessert?