Marios Papadopoulos

Mendelssohn's Elijah
2024-12-01 18:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Mendelssohn Elijah, Op. 70 (sung in English)

Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha soprano
Angharad Lyddon mezzo-soprano
Adam Gilbert tenor
Sir Bryn Terfel bass-baritone
Crouch End Festival Chorus
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
Premiered in Birmingham, a German oratorio with a Christian soul composed by a practicing Lutheran from a famously Jewish family, Elijah is the consummate work of bridge-building, understanding and reconciliation. ‘I was able to sway at will the enormous mass of orchestra, choir and organ’ wrote Mendelssohn from the West Midlands back to Leipzig as he reported on preparations for the oratorio examining the Old Testament figure of Elijah, a ground-shaking and inspiring monument to the nobility of faith. Sir Bryn Terfel is Elijah in this performance at the Sheldonian Theatre uniting soloists, the Crouch End Festival Chorus and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra.

Happy Birthday Marios
2024-12-20 19:30 - 21:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83*
Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
Marios Papadopoulos piano/conductor
Michael Papadopoulos conductor*
Music Director Marios Papadopoulos celebrates a landmark occasion as soloist in Brahms’s Piano Concerto in B flat major and conductor in the same composer’s Symphony No. 4. Brahms wrote the second of his concertos at the ripest moment of his productivity, apparently able to animate any possible musical idea and to blend beauty with ferocity and drama with intimacy. Rising star Michael Papadopoulos, makes his debut as conductor with the Oxford Philharmonic to provide an accompaniment of symphonic proportions to this, the grandest of piano concertos of the Romantic era. After the interval, Marios Papadopoulos steps on the podium to conduct Brahms’s Apollonian final symphony – a work conceived as a retreat from the world that reflects on the composer’s lifelong servitude and his luminous acceptance of the end of his creative and mortal lives.

Verdi Requiem
2025-01-25 19:00 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Verdi Messa da Requiem
Lauren Fagan soprano
Maria Schellenberg mezzo-soprano
David Junghoon Kim tenor
Blaise Malaba bass
Crouch End Festival Chorus
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
There is no more dramatic setting of the Requiem Mass in the repertory than Giuseppe Verdi’s, written to commemorate friends but giving full voice to the composer’s theatrical instincts and vivid response to religious imagery and poetry. World-class soloists and the massed voices of the Crouch End Festival Chorus gather at the Sheldonian Theatre for this performance of Verdi’s soul-stirring work of awe and redemption, often referred to as ‘an opera in disguise’, with the full force of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and its Music Director, Marios Papadopoulos.

Martha Argerich
2025-02-23 19:30 - 21:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Coleridge-Taylor Ballade in A minor, Op. 33* Side-by-Side
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 19
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36
Martha Argerich piano
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey conductor*
The great Martha Argerich returns to the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra as a concerto soloist, in Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto, surrounded surrounded in this programme by orchestral music of brilliance and drama. Samuel ColeridgeTaylor’s Ballade promises a wild ride: its energy and urgency will make any audience sit up and listen. To close, Marios Papadopoulos conducts Tchaikovsky’s great symphonic tussle with fate. In his red-blooded Symphony No. 4, the composer who always wore his heart on his sleeve manages to mine the consolation of hope from the turmoil of tragedy and despair, creating a live music experience like no other.

Martha Argerich
2025-02-24 19:30 - 21:30 | Barbican, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS, United Kingdom
Coleridge-Taylor Ballade in A minor, Op. 33
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 19
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36
Martha Argerich piano
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
The great Martha Argerich returns to the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra as a concerto soloist, in Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto, surrounded surrounded in this programme by orchestral music of brilliance and drama. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade promises a wild ride: its energy and urgency will make any audience sit up and listen. To close, Marios Papadopoulos conducts Tchaikovsky’s great symphonic tussle with fate. In his red-blooded Symphony No. 4, the composer who always wore his heart on his sleeve manages to mine the consolation of hope from the turmoil of tragedy and despair, creating a live music experience like no other.

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
2025-03-13 19:30 - 21:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Bach Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 5 in D major, Op. 107, ‘Reformation’
Anthony Robb flute
Antje Weithaas violin
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
After its pious opening, Mendelssohn’s ‘Reformation’ Symphony explodes into a declaration of faith and equality – an image of the Lutheran Reformation as one of fortitude, industry, democratisation and joy, all of which permeate the composer’s best-kept symphonic secret. Before the embracing energy of Mendelssohn’s symphony comes the composer’s supremely elegant Violin Concerto in the sensitive hands of Antje Weithaas and music by Mendelssohn’s beloved Bach: the standout Orchestral Suite No. 2, with its modish flute solos.

Dvořák Eight
2025-04-10 19:30 - 21:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Humperdinck Prelude from Hansel and Gretel
Wieniawski Fantaisie brilliante, on themes from Gounod’s Faust, Op. 20
Waxman Carmen Fantasy
Dvořák Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88
Bomsori Kim violin
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
Winner of the Concerto Prize at the 2024 BBC Music Magazine Awards, Bomsori Kim brings her virtuosic storytelling to two spellbinding violin works distilled from great operas: Waxman’s famous Carmen Fantasy and Wieniawski’s wickedly entertaining fantasy on themes from Gounod’s Faust. Complementing these performances, Marios Papadopoulos conducts Humperdinck’s glowing prelude to Hänsel and Gretel and Dvořák’s thrilling Symphony No. 8, a supreme marriage of immediacy and architectural brilliance.

Mahler One
2025-05-10 19:00 - 21:30 | Oxford Town Hall, St Aldate's, Oxford, OX1 1BX, United Kingdom
Palazzo Sisyphus world premiere*
Shor Piano Concerto No. 1
Mahler Symphony No. 1 in D major, ‘Titan’
Behzod Abduraimov piano
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
Marcello Palazzo conductor*
Mahler’s symphonies are his spiritual autobiographies, laying out his experiences and suffering for all to hear. His strikingly confident Symphony No. 1 of 1889 is cast in two parts: first the optimism and energy of youth; then the crisis of rejection and death. Yet Mahler’s symphony powers towards an exultant conclusion, overtly popular in style and imbued with a new confidence – the confidence of life itself. Marios Papadopoulos conducts Mahler’s Titanic symphony here after the world premiere of Sisyphus by University of Oxford and OPO Composers’ Workshop alumnus Marcello Palazzo and another work from our Composer-in-Residence Alexey Shor: with unexpected twists in its traditional structure, Shor’s Piano Concerto No. 1 blends nostalgia and exhilaration, and features the remarkable soloist Behzod Abduraimov.
Young Artists’ Platform
Pre-concert recital 18:00

Beethoven Seven
2025-05-22 19:30 - 21:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Beethoven Overture ‘Coriolan’, Op. 62
Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 6
Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
Carmine Lauri violin
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
Marios Papadopoulos takes the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra through the momentous symphonic dance that is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, a work whose pounding, marching and pirouetting permanently realigned western music’s fundamental relationship between rhythm and harmony. Another of our own musicians, Concertmaster Carmine Lauri, is the soloist in the most lyrical and operatic violin concerto by the great guru of virtuosity, Niccolò Paganini, a work that will fill the Sheldonian Theatre with rococo elegance. To open, all the ferocity and impact of one of Beethoven’s most striking orchestral overtures, ‘Coriolan’.

Angela Gheorghiu
2025-06-19 19:30 - 21:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Strauss II Overture Die Fledermaus
Mascagni Prelude & Intermezzo Cavalleria Rusticana
Puccini Preludio sinfonico
Lehár Overture The Merry Widow
Verdi La Traviata Prelude Act I
Puccini ‘In quelle trine morbide’ from Manon Lescaut, Act II
Puccini ‘Donde lieta usci’ from La bohème, Act III
Puccini Manon Lescaut Intermezzo Act III
Puccini ‘Un bel di vedremo’ from Madama Butterfly, Act III
Puccini ‘O mio babbino caro’ from Gianni Schicchi
Angela Gheorghiu soprano
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
Angela Gheorghiu, one of the most glamorous and gifted opera singers of our time, returns to perform with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra to close the season at the Sheldonian Theatre. Together, they will celebrate a composer to whom she has dedicated a lifetime: Puccini. After landmark appearances as his heroines Tosca and Madama Butterfly on the world’s greatest opera stages, Gheorghiu performs the most beloved arias from Puccini’s operas, while the orchestra brings its storytelling talents to bear in enchanting overtures and tragic intermezzos from favourite operas and operettas.

Haydn Nelson Mass
2026-01-22 19:30 - 21:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
MacKinnon-Botti King of Kings* world premiere
Schoenberg Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, Op. 41
Haydn Mass No. 11 in D minor, ‘Nelson Mass’, Hob. XXII:II
Annie Dutoit-Argerich narrator
Alessandro MacKinnon-Botti beatboxer*
Cédric Pescia piano
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
Oxford Philharmonic Choir
The evening begins with a world premiere by MacKinnon-Botti, a contemporary composition that promises to challenge and inspire, featuring the composer himself as beatboxing soloist. This is followed by Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, delivering a dramatic exploration of political power, brought to life through a vivid orchestral and vocal arrangement. The concert concludes with Haydn’s Nelson Mass, a monumental work combining magnificence and emotional depth, showcasing the brilliance of both the orchestra and choir.

Ein Heldenleben
2026-01-29 19:30 - 21:30 | Oxford Town Hall, St Aldate's, Oxford, OX1 1BX, United Kingdom
Dvořák Carnival Overture, Op. 92* side-by-side
Shor Violin Concerto No. 7
Strauss Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40
Giuseppe Gibboni violin
Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey conductor*
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
Richard Strauss spent the first half of his career producing a string of opulent, proto-cinematic tone poems that redefined orchestral virtuosity. The most epic of them is also the consummate musical autobiography. Ein Heldenleben is a picture of ambition, bravery and resilience which combines music of unprecedented richness, excitement and tenderness. Strauss’s bold orchestration might scatter its adversaries with panache but it concludes with a humbling glimpse of life’s spiritual journey. Before it, Giuseppe Gibboni is the soloist for the spirited momentum and tender repose of OPO Composer-in-Residence Alexey Shor’s Violin Concerto No. 7.

Maxim Vengerov
2026-02-02 19:30 - 21:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35
Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
Maxim Vengerov violin
Rainer Küchl guest concertmaster
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
Violin virtuoso Maxim Vengerov joins Marios Papadopoulos and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra for a stunning evening of intensity and grandeur. Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, with its heartfelt and romantic lyricism, provides the perfect showcase for Vengerov’s extraordinary technique and emotional depth. Following, Brahms’s First Symphony unleashes a tidal wave of tension and triumph, with Papadopoulos leading the orchestra through its stirring passages, culminating in a glorious, heroic conclusion.
This concert is supported by Dr Michael Peagram.

Brahms German Requiem
2026-03-08 18:00 - 20:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45
Fflur Wyn soprano
James Atkinson baritone
Crouch End Festival Chorus
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
In 1857, grieving his late mother, Johannes Brahms began work on his choral masterpiece Ein deutsches Requiem. Brahms’s colleague Schumann believed Brahms would deliver ‘wonderful glimpses of the spirit world’. Brahms obliged with a Requiem unlike any other: a piece that carries the gift of spiritual comfort rather than the threat of impending judgment – a glowing message of brotherhood and consolation, a work of its time and place but with universal resonance. Two outstanding soloists and the Crouch End Festival Chorus join the orchestra and Music Director Marios Papadopoulos for Brahms’s consolatory masterpiece.

Nicola Benedetti
2026-04-15 19:30 - 21:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Elgar Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61
Elgar Enigma Variations, Op. 36
Nicola Benedetti violin
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
The great violinist Fritz Kreisler rated Edward Elgar alongside Beethoven and Brahms. When Kreisler said as much in a 1905 newspaper interview, Elgar picked up the threads of a concerto he’d begun nearly two decades earlier. The piece he finished five years later, performed in this concert by the exceptional Nicola Benedetti, is as epic and emotive as it is personal and elusive, ‘enshrining the soul’ of an unknown person. A more famous enigma is found in Elgar’s dazzlingly virtuosic set of variations for orchestra. His Enigma Variations are portraits of friends and celebrations of orchestral panache. But they also offer glimpses into the soul of an artist who might have been careful not to reveal his secrets but was never afraid to show his emotions.

Mozart Requiem
2026-04-30 19:00 - 21:00 | Olivier Hall, St Edward’s School, St Edward's School, Woodstock Rd, Oxford, OX2 7NN, United Kingdom
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488
Mozart Requiem in D minor, K. 626
Sarah Dufresne soprano
Claire Barnett-Jones mezzo-soprano
Joshua Ellicott tenor
Jonathan Lemalu bass
Oxford Philharmonic Choir
Rainer Küchl guest concertmaster
Marios Papadopoulos conductor/piano
Marios Papadopoulos conducts and performs in an evening devoted to the genius of Mozart. The programme opens with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, where Papadopoulos’s delicate yet dynamic piano playing brings this lyrical masterpiece to life. The second half of the concert features Mozart’s Requiem, a profound and dramatic work, performed by the Oxford Philharmonic Choir, capturing both the composer’s deep spirituality and his unparalleled gift for orchestral and choral texture.

In conversation with Anne-Sophie Mutter
2026-05-17 19:30 - 21:00 | Debating Chamber. Oxford Union, Frewin Court, Oxford, OX1 3HZ, United Kingdom
Brahms Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108
Anne-Sophie Mutter violin
Marios Papadopoulos piano
In the second of our Oxford Union series, Anne-Sophie Mutter takes centre stage in a conversation with Marios Papadopoulos followed by a performance of Brahms’s Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor in the Union’s Debating Chamber.

Hough plays Hough
2026-06-04 19:30 - 21:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
Stephen Hough Piano Concerto, ‘The World of Yesterday’
Brahms Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
Sir Stephen Hough piano
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
Johannes Brahms looked out over an Austrian lake as he worked on his Symphony No. 2. The music captures the menacing yet mellifluous view of nature he saw, as the passing clouds of day gave way to the infinite beauty of the sunset, the dark stillness of night and a glorious awakening to a new day. Before this, Sir Stephen Hough joins Marios Papadopoulos and the orchestra for a performance of his own piano concerto, a work ‘of jaw-dropping complexity and finger-crunching virtuosity’ for orchestra and pianist, in the words of one critic. The concert opens with purifying music by Ralph Vaughan Williams: his serene and somehow wholly English Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.

Beethoven Nine
2026-06-08 19:30 - 21:30 | Cadogan Hall, London, United Kingdom
Beethoven Choral Fantasy in C minor, Op. 80
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, ‘Choral’, Op. 125
Anna Avramidou piano
Zoe Nicolaidou soprano
Shakira Tsindos mezzo-soprano
Sotiris Charalampous tenor
Yiorgo Ioannou baritone
Crouch End Festival Chorus
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
An evening of majestic, joy-filled Beethoven to celebrate the Cyprus European Union Presidency. Young virtuoso Anna Avramidou takes centre stage in the uplifting Choral Fantasy, then Marios Papadopoulos leads the orchestra and exceptional vocal soloists in a triumphant performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
The Cultural Section of the Cyprus High Commission is proud to support this flagship concert, presented as part of the official celebrations of Cyprus’s Presidency of the European Union.

Gidon Kremer
2026-06-18 19:30 - 21:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Mozart Divertimento for Strings in D major, K. 136
Schnittke Violin Concerto No. 3
Gubaidulina Impromptu
Mozart Symphony No. 35 in D major, ‘Haffner’, K. 385
Gidon Kremer violin
Stathis Karapanos flute
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
Violin virtuoso Gidon Kremer joins the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra alongside conductor and Music Director Marios Papadopoulos, for an evening of exceptional music. The programme will include music by Gubaidulina and Schnittke, both of whom composed for Kremer and are an integral part of his musical universe. Known for his passionate playing, Kremer brings his brilliance to the stage in a performance full of intensity and emotional depth.

Grieg Piano Concerto
2026-07-30 19:30 - 21:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, United Kingdom
Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
Rachmaninov Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27
Theodosia Ntokou piano
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
The festival is thrilled to present one of the most exciting emerging instrumental talents, Greek pianist Theodosia Ntokou, who has counted Martha Argerich as her mentor since 2009. Theodosia joins the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra for all the fresh air, spontaneity and adventure of one of the central piano concertos of the literature, that by Edvard Grieg – followed here by Rachmaninov’s symphony of infernal whirlwinds, passionate declarations of love and heartfelt longing for peace.
