Primavera in Italia

Deux Cheminees chef de cuisine Fritz Blank may cook up a firestorm in his Locust Street townhouse. But he also has a flaming way with song, roaring through Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, Schoenberg's Gurrelieder and Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher with passions ablaze. Blank, like 23 other area vocalists, is one of the Philadelphia Singers, an organization under the reign of music director David Hayes who has had gigs with the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Curtis Institute of Music and, of course, the Philadelphia Orchestra for whom they serve as resident chorus. Why the chef chat? Because Blank will round up his fellow choristers, pal Nick Malgieri (former exec pastry chef at the famed Windows on the World, and author of Cookies Unlimited) and his associates at the Restaurant School (where he serves on the board of directors) for the benefit event, "Primavera in Italia." So while you're knocking down gnocchi, sucking up Blank's speciality veloute crab marguerite or any of the event's Roma-themed foods from a who's who of Philadelphian chefs, Blank (minus his apron) and his singing friends will sing for their supper, performing the likes of Rossini's Stabat Mater. Whether you're there for the food or the song, everything will be served hot.

The Philadelphia Singers present "Primavera in Italia," Sun., May 23, 5 p.m., $25-$100, The Restaurant School, 4207 Walnut St., 215-751-9494.

—A.D. Amorosi

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