An Italian Summer Soirée in the City of London

A Summertime celebration of - great operatic singing & classical piano music, excellence of Italian wines - it's going to be bellissimo!
About this Event

Our Italian-themed Summer Soirée - at Terra Rossa - La Cantina (near St. Pauls tube station) - will celebrate la dolce vita - with all good things from Italy, quality wine, good food and Italian opera! Terra Rossa have provided our diners with a mouth-watering SET MENU with plnty of choices - see below for menu

For the performance of operatic arias & Neapolitan songs (approx. 30 min programme), we are delighted to present Ukrainian soprano Inna Husieva and English spinto tenor, Tom Lidgley.

Inna and Tom will be singing some popular Italian operatic arias and charming Neapolitan songs, accompanied on the Grand Piano at the restaurant (pianist to be announced). The duo recently performed together in St. Paul's Opera's production of Verdi's La Traviata, and in our recent "Magic of Opera in Eastcheap".

"It is going to be bellissimo!"

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UPDATES

SUN 23 AUG 2026 New CONCERT PIANIST ROXANNA SHINI will be joining the sjhow, and will play for guests some relaxing piano pieces plus a classical piece by Granados. (See her bio below)

TUE 18 AUG 2026 - NEW RESTAURANT & Free Glass of wine with Dinner - Terra Rossa - La Cantina ("Southern Italy on Limeburner Lane") will be our venue for our Italian-Summer-themed dinner with music event. We are truly delighted to have discovered this gem of a Puglian restaurant located close to St. Pauls tube station! Food served here is excellent (rave reviews!) and authentically Italian. Plus there is a piano on site for our live operatic singing performance. We will serve a sampling portion (approx. 100ml) of our new wines from Abruzzo, with dinner! "It is going to be belissimmo!"

See video of the restaurant - here

MON 17 AUG 2026 - RESTAURANT Change Owing to unexpected and unforseen circumstance, we have to review our initial choice of restaurant. We may remain with our first choice, but it is possible we may decide to go with a different restaurant. The standard of food and dining experience will be equivalent if not higher. Guests who have booked will be provided with an equivalent offering of fine dining (or opt for a refund). We will update on this ASAP.

TUE 11 AUG 2026 - PIANIST Janet Haney joins the show We are delighted to welcome Janet as piano accompanist to our singers. As a professional vocal coach and pianist, she brings a wealth of talent and experience in vocal performance! (See her bio below).

SUN 9 AUG 2026 - LAUNCH of Ticket Sales

The ticket comines 2 components i) live performance of operatic singing by professional artistes and ii) GS Wines SET DINNER (ticket option will depend on choice of MAINs) - and will include:

• Welcome bubbly (prosecco)
• Mini-concert (live performance) with soprano Inna Husieva and tenor Tom Lidgley
• GS Wines / Terra Rossa SET Menu Dinner (at £66 incl. Eventbrite fee) - see MENU Details below
• PLUS - free glass of wine! GS Wines will provide free of charge a tasting portion of our latest wine from Abruzzo made by Tre Gemme, with the dinner

NB. Sorry we won't have tickets for just the concert only.

SONG PROGRAMME (updated 14 AUG)

Our audience can expect a world-class, top quality performance of music - to include popular operatic arias (solos and duets) from Italian operas, & classical songs.

In keeping with our 'Italian' theme, we plan to have a preponderance of the "Italianate" operatic repertoire*!

* exact arias, final music programme subject to confirmation

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"An Italian Summer Soirée in the City of London" - EVENT TIMETABLE

17:45 Doors open for Welcome glass of sparkling wine

18:30 Mini Concert

19:00 (Approx time) DINNER

20:30 (approx. time) Post-Dessert ENCORE (optional)

20:45 Close

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Artistes' Bios

Inna Husieva is a London-based Ukrainian soprano and National Opera Studio alumna (2021–22) who served as a Scottish Opera Emerging Artist for the 2023–24 season. Originally from Donetsk, she completed her studies at the Pyotr Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine. She has performed in the Concert for Ukraine at Glyndebourne with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and appeared at Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, and LSO St Luke's. She has performed as Violetta Valéry in La Traviata with Scottish Opera.

Tom Lidgley is a young British tenor who has recently graduated from his Master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Music, studying under Adrian Thompson and Janet Haney. Tom also studied with Adrian at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Tom’s operatic experience includes singing Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème (Aquarian Opera Company), Alfred in Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus, Mayor Upfold in Britten’s Albert Herring (GSMD), Chorus & Cover Shallow in Vaughan Williams’ Sir John in Love (BYO), Alfredo in Act 1 of Verdi’s La Traviata (in concert with Aylesbury Opera Company) and various opera scenes and productions at both the Academy and Guildhall. Tom is a former member of the Garsington Youth Opera Company, singing in three operas with them, including the premiere of Roxanna Panufnik’s Silver Birch. Tom has also performed as the Tenor soloist in both Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Handel’s Messiah.

has worked as a vocal coach and répétiteur for numerous opera companies across the UK and abroad for over 30 years. Engagements include Wexford Festival Opera, Welsh National Opera, English Touring Opera, Opera Holland Park, Longborough Festival Opera, Dorset Opera Festival, Islenska Operan (Iceland), Opera Africa (South Africa), European Chamber Opera, and Opera Project.

British-Iranian pianist is an award winning performer, collaborator, curator, composer and teacher. Roxanna graduated in 2024 from her postgraduate studies at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in piano performance, with Distinction as well as First Class degree (with honours). Roxanna then became a Junior Fellow in piano accompaniment at Trinity, where she currently holds a position as staff accompanist and festival curator. She has performed at distinguished venues across the UK and Europe including Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Steinway Hall, St James Piccadilly, Sala Michelangeli (Italy), The Arlberg 1800 (Austria), Konzertsaal des Augustinum (Germany), Auditoria Joaquin Rodrigo (Madrid) and Nafplio Vouleftikon (Greece).

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"Southern Italy on Limeburner Lane"

SPECIAL SET MENU - Sharing Starters + Choice of MAIN & Dessert

Shared Starters

• Tagliere di salumi (D) - Italian Charcuterie selection served with homemade focaccia
• Fritto di verdure (V) Battered courgettes, broccoli, sweet potato, cauliflower and peppers, aubergine polpette with mozzarella & courgettes, ricotta and mint bites, served with a garlic mayo
• Frittura di calamari e gamberi - Fried calmari rings and prawns served with tartar sauce
• Burrata con caponata di verdure (V, GF) - Creamy burrata served with a vegetable caponata
• Eleonara salad (V, VG, D, N) - Endive mix and valerian cress, fennel, orange segments, walnuts & balsamic glaze

Main Courses

• Orecchiette salsiccia e cardoncelli - Oricchiette pasta with tomato sauce with fennel seeds, Italian sausage, cardoncelli mushrooms, pecorino cheese fondue & fresh rocket
• Ravioli di burrata al pomodoro fresco (V) - Burrata-filled ravioli with a fresh datterini tomato sauce and basil
• Orecchiette alle cime di rapa (V, VG, D) - Oricchiette pasta with turnip tops
• Risotto of the week (please ask for more information)
• Filetto di branzino (D, GF) - Seabass fillet served with a vegetable caponata

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PIZZA (Main Course)
Our pizzas feature a wholesome 5-grain dough. Please choose a pizza from our menu below:

• Capocollo & Cardoncelli mozzarella - Capocollo di Martina Franca (Apulian cured meat), King oyster mushrooms, olives & yellow datterini (no tomato sauce, please ask if you'd like to have it)
• Margherita (V) - Tomato sauce, mozzarella & basil
• Regina Margherita (V) - Tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella & basil
• DIAVOLA - Tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy salami (spianata & bastone piccante) and nduja
• CONTADINA (V, VG please speify, with vegan cheese) - Tomato sauce, mozzarella, roasted peppers, aubergine & courgettes
• Pizza al tartufo (V) - Mozzarella, caciocavallo cheese, truffle, carpaccio (no tomato sauce, please ask if you'd like to have it)
• Terra Rossa - Tomato sauce, mozzarella, bresaola cured meat, sausage, parmesan & rocket
• EMILIANA - Tomato sauce, mozzarella, parma ham, parmesan, rocket
• CAPRICCIOSA - Tomato sauce, mozzarella, cotto ham, mushrooms, artichokes & black olives
• 4 FORMAGGI (V) - Mozzarella, scamorza, emmenthal, gorgonzola (no tomato sauce, please ask if you'd like to have it)
• Pancetta & grana - Tomato sauce, mozzarella, Italian pancetta and parmesan shavings
• Porcini & speck - Tomato sauce, mozzarella, porcini mushrooms and speck (cured ham)
  For an authentic twist add a burrata to top your pizza for £6 extra

Desserts

• Homemade Tiramisu (made fresh everyday)
• Affogato all'amaretto (V, VG & D please specify) - Vanilla ice cream & amaretto biscuits topped with espresso
• Tortino al cioccolato (V, GF) - Chcolate fondant
• Crostata al sambucco e lampone (VG, D) - multi-cereal tart with elderflower and raspberries
• Pasticciotto alla crema - signature Salento pastry cake filled with custard