Romantic Days, Arabian Nights

Soprano Helen Brown takes the limelight in a beautiful programme of Romantic era songs, accompanied by pianist David Wickham. We're joined by Irina Vasilieva, founder and artistic director of Cappuccino, for flamboyant piano duets by Schumann, "Ballszenen".

The rest of the charming recital is a portrait of Helen as an artist, highlighting her perfect French and German, and her love of travel (which we also don't do nearly often enough!) Most of the works programmed are by husband and wife composer pairings Robert and Clara Schumann, and Gustav and Alma Mahler.

Robert's wedding presents to Clara included the wonderful "Myrthen" songs; Clara replies with two beauties of her own. 50 years later the glamorous, turbulent Alma Schindler married Gustav Mahler and abandoned her promising work as a composer. We present some of the best of both - imagine what she might have produced had she been able to continue!

I'm especially looking forward to Ravel's glorious Schéhérazade, three songs usually for orchestra—but as an opera repetiteur I love playing orchestral scores. The first songs, "Asia", is a swirling travelogue of an imagined journey from the Middle to the Far East, as a European would see it, full of colour and leading to a mighty climax.