Mozart Requiem

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.

This performance includes the world premiere live performance of Robert Saxton’s Agnus Dei for the Requiem by Mozart, written in 2017 for a projected TV drama. The writer/producer Peter Kosminsky (who had directed Wolf Hall) wanted a ‘darker’ Agnus Dei in the manner of late Mozart, replacing the very beautiful movement by Mozart’s pupil, Süssmayr.

Pre-concert talk given by Sir Nicholas Kenyon at 18:00
Mozart: Requiem but still no peace
Left incomplete on his death, Mozart’s setting of the Requiem Mass has been one of the most debated and argued-over works in the history of music. Nicholas Kenyon explores the turbulent background to the piece and the many versions of it that exist today.