Marios Papadopoulos and Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, © Chris Gloag |
Marios explained that the name change partly reflected the orchestra's greater global reach and that agents in the USA and Germany found the original name tricky and it reflects the orchestra's widening activities. Though Marios wryly commented that many people will not notice and the orchestra gets referred to as the Oxford Philharmonic anyway!
Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, © Chris Gloag |
Many of the players are London-based freelance players, and there is a core of regulars and Marios feels that the orchestra has a very distinct identity. And as there is no other professional performing group like it in Oxford certainly helps when selecting programmes. Marios has a good admin team to help run the orchestra, but in the early days he did a great deal of the work himself to get the orchestra started.
Marios Papadopoulos and Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra at the Sheldonian, © Chris Gloag |
The orchestra has been able to form some strong artistic partnerships as performers come to Oxford and enjoy performing there and want to do more. Maxim Vengerov is the orchestra's artist in residence, and he is performing with them in Oxford and London this season. Their recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto is forthcoming and they have just recorded the Sibelius Violin Concerto in its original 1904 version.
Opening new horizons and new doors
The orchestra also has an ongoing relationship with Andras Schiff; Vladimir Ashkenazy came last year for two concerts and is enthusiastic about doing more and possibly recording with them; Nigel Kennedy will be returning in 2016 to tour with the orchestra. Marios sees such relationships as opening new horizons and new doors.
Because of the Sheldonian's size, income from ticket sales is limited even though they sell out. 300 of the 800 seats are at the very top and are offered to students for £5. Marios is very grateful for the fact that artists do discount their fees, but the remaining funding has to be raised privately from individuals, trusts and corporations. They get a small a amount from the city council, but nothing from the Arts Council and no money from the University despite being in residence there.
Community, education and a Piano Festival
Marios Papadopoulos and Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra © Chris Gloag |
There is also an annual composers workshop with Robert Saxton selecting a work for performance by the orchestra. Marios comments that it is important for composers to hear their works performed by a real orchestra rather than just in Sibelius. They also run a lot of masterclasses and have given them with Lang Lang, Maxim Vengervo, Valery Gergiev and Ann Sophi Mutter which represents an ongoing opportunity for the students. There is also a lot of community work, family concerts and working with deprived children.
Many of these activites are run under the banner of the orchestra's Academy. This includes the Summer Piano Festival which is now very established and there are well over 100 applications for the 15 places. The festival involves the students in masterclasses, performance opportunities and concerts and participating pianists have included Byron Janis, Menham Pressler, Alfred Brendel, Barry Douglas and Andras Schiff. Marios feels that it is an amazing opportunity for students and Lang Lang's foundation sends two of their scholars.
Piano activities
Originally a pianist, Marios does not play as much as he once did, but he is still active as a pianist and has given complete cycles of Mozart concertos and Beethoven concerts with his orchestra. His own recordings include Shostakovich's Twenty-four preludes and fugues, Stravinsky's Concerto (which Marios says is one of his favourite works) and Janacek's Capriccio and Rondo. He does recitals with Maxim Vengerov and the two are recording the Brahms sonatas and they will be touring next year to Vienna, Madrid and the Teatro Colon to co-incide with the CD release.
Concerts to look forward to
Cosi van tutte - Metta Theatre & Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra copyright Richard Davenport |
All the Schumann symphonies are included in their season with Marios conducting symphonies one, three and four. It is the first time he has conducted the symphonies and is fascinated to do so, having played so much of the composer's piano music and hopes to bring something of this piano experience to the symphonies.
Opera too
Take note of some of the wonderful music making
The orchestra is planning as far ahead as the 2019-2020 season, including he Beethoven year and thee are some exciting collaborations to come.
Marios feels that the orchestra has been eclipsed by the giants but is slowly gaining ground, and he hopes that people stand up and take note of some of the wonderful music making and a lot of this is to do with the versatility of the orchestra's players. Marios does not want the orchestra to be typecast, and they can scale up and down according to repertoire.
Their programming includes baroque music and Bach, and they have a Baroque Festival, played on modern instruments but with period style. They also perform a lot of chamber music, both Marios and the orchestras principals. this means that they get to know each other and that this transfers to the full orchestra with a commonality of sound and style.
At the other end of the spectrum, they commission music and work regularly with the composers from the faculty of music and they are very much embedded in musical life at Oxford.
Elsewhere on this blog:
- Boulanger in Stockholm: Marc Soustrot and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic in music by Lili and Nadia Boulanger - concert review
- In fine fettle, if lacking light and shade at first: Leo Nucci at Rosenblatt Recitals - concert review
- The Cello goes Latin American: Ophelie Gaillard Alvorada - CD review
- New music for woodwind: Twisted Skycape from Shea Lolin & Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble - CD review
- Intense & intellligent: Belcea Quartet in Mozart, Webern & Schubert - concert review
- Lithe and dramatic: ETO's Hollywood Hoffmann - Opera review
- Showcasing period flute and piano: Finchcocks Schubertiade - Cd review
- From ritual humiliation to meditation: My encounter with conductor Rachael Young - interview
- Transposed & translated Massenet's Werther from ETO - Opera review
- Visual theatre: Raven Girl and Connectome - Ballet review
- Delightful discovery: Marcello Psalms from Voces8 - Cd review
- Gripping: Bellini's I Puritani in Cardiff - Opera review
- Serious Drama: Handel's Orlando in Cardiff - opera review
- Hear the message: Bob Chilcott's The Angry Planet - CD review
- The lute song re-invented: Amores Pasados, from John Potter, Anna Maria Friman, Jacob Heringman and Ariel Abramovich - Cd review
- Through a romantic lens: Hideko Udagawa in baroque repertoire - Cd review
- Festival finale: King's College Choir & Stephen Cleobury in Mozart's Requiem at Hatfield House - concert review
- Home
No comments:
Post a Comment