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Founder and Music Director of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Marios Papadopoulos has recorded a series of discs dedicated to Beethoven’s piano sonatas.

Track Listing:

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31, No. 1
Allegro vivace
Adagio grazioso
Rondo: Allegretto

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2, ‘The Tempest’
Largo–Allegro
Adagio
Allegretto

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 18 in E flat major, Op. 31, No. 3, ‘The Hunt’
Allegro
Scherzo: Allegretto vivace
Menuetto: Moderato e grazioso
Presto con fuoco

Track Listing:

MOZART Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
Molto allegro
Andante
Menuetto
Allegro assai

MOZART Symphony No. 41 in C major, K.551
Allegro vivace
Andante cantabile
Menuetto: Allegro–Trio
Molto allegro

This is an easily referenced numerical Köchel number guide in celebration of the 250th Anniversary of Amadeus Mozart.

From K1 to K626 ‘Mozart at 250‘ outlines all information relevant to each K number.

There are three sections:
– Categories of music by numerical K numbers
– K1 to K626
– Posthumous information

Handel wrote the masque Acis and Galatea in 1718 for the Duke of Chandos to words by John Gay. In arranging the work Mendelssohn added a viola part and parts for woodwind and brass, in part simply filling in the continuo harmonies. However, he went further than that and rewrote, shortened, occasionally extended and more often omitted numbers. The present recording is described by the conductor as “a true Oxford project”, with performers drawn from that city and making use of the arranger’s manuscript now in the Bodleian Library. In a word, it is magical. There is a freshness about this performance which is wholly enchanting. The bass line is kept firm but light, a crucial requirement in Handel, and rhythms bounce along, avoiding any of the kind of heaviness fatal to the music. The soloists are well chosen, all characterising well, especially Brindl]ey Sherratt as Polyphemus. The choir are admirable, even if their pronunciation in “Oh the pleasure of the plains” suggests that they are particularly well-bred shepherds.

– John Sheppard

Founder and Music Director of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Marios Papadopoulos has recorded a series of discs dedicated to Beethoven’s piano sonatas.

The first in a series of five, this CD features Beethoven’s first three sonatas composed in 1795 which make up his Opus 2. Following his departure from Haydn’s tutelage from which he claimed to have learned nothing, Beethoven went on to study with Johann Albrechtsberger and Antonio Salieri and it is during this time that he began work on this set of sonatas.

Papadopoulos’s performances on this disc have attracted critical acclaim, praised by Classic FM Magazine (Critics’ Choice Award) for ‘casting new light on No. 1’, and by the Daily Telegraph for his ‘performances … full of personality and intelligence.’

Track listing:

BEETHOVEN Sonata for Piano No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1
Allegro
Adagio
Menuetto
Prestissimo

BEETHOVEN Sonata for Piano No. 2 in A major, Op. 2 No. 2
Allegro vivace
Largo appassionato
Scherzo
Rondo

BEETHOVEN Sonata for Piano No. 3 in C major, Op. 2 No. 3
Allegro con brio
Adagio
Scherzo (Allegro)
Allegro assai

Founder and Music Director of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Marios Papadopoulos has recorded a series of discs dedicated to Beethoven’s piano sonatas.

The penultimate disc in a series of five, this CD features Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 12, ‘Funeral March’, and the two sonatas that make up Opus 27: Nos 13 and 14, the latter of which is the famous ‘Moonlight’ sonata.

No. 12, the ‘Funeral March’, stands out in its avoidance of sonata form across all four movements, as well as presenting the first example of the numerous funeral marches Beethoven would go on to write later on in his career. Dedicated to Prince Lichnowsky, it was published in 1802 alongside the two fantasia-like sonatas of Op. 27, also included in this recording.

Beethoven was explicit in his directions to the performer in both Piano Sonata Nos 13 and 14: ‘in the style of a fantasy’ and rejecting the usual practice of breaks between movements. Each work runs as a cohesive whole, with an improvisatory quality that indicates these sonatas may have begun as free improvisations before being worked into publishable form.

Track listing:

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat major, Op. 26, ‘Funeral March’
Andante con variazioni
Scherzo. Allegro molto
Marcia funebre sull morte d’un Eroe
Allegro

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 13 in E flat major, Op. 27 No. 1, quasi una fantasia
Andante – Allegro – Andante
Allegro molto e vivace
Adagio con espressione
Allegro vivace

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2, quasi una fantasia ‘Moonlight’
Adagio sostenuto
Allegretto
Presto agitato

Founder and Music Director of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Marios Papadopoulos has recorded a series of discs dedicated to Beethoven’s piano sonatas.

The final disc in a series of five, this CD features the last three Piano Sonatas Beethoven wrote: Nos 30 (Op. 109), 31 (Op. 110) and 32 (Op. 111).

The three sonatas were written between 1820 and 1822, just five years before the composer’s death in 1827. He was experiencing severe hearing loss and was also ill with rheumatic fever and jaundice early in 1821, a foreshadowing of the hepatitis that would later cause his death. By the summer of that year, he had recovered enough to return to work, publishing No. 30 and beginning work on No. 31.

Two of the three sonatas deviate significantly from the status quo: the third and final movement of No. 30 is really a theme and variations, thrice the length of the two preceding movements. No. 31, on the other hand, consists of only two movements – so unusual for sonata form that his publisher wrote back wondering if the final movement had been left out of the package by mistake.

Track listing:

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
Vivace, ma non troppo – Adagio espressivo
Prestissimo
Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung
Variation I: Molto espressivo
Variation II: Leggiermente
Variation III: Allegro vivace
Variation IV: Etwas langsamer als das Thema
Variation V: Allegro, ma non troppo
Variation VI: Tempo 1 del tema (Cantabile)

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110
Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
Allegro molto
Adagio ma non troppo

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato
Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile

Founder and Music Director of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Marios Papadopoulos has recorded a series of discs dedicated to Beethoven’s piano sonatas.

The second in a series of five, this CD features Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Nos 5, 6 and 7, composed in 1798 which make up his Opus 10. Dedicated to Countess Anna Margarete von Browne, this set of three sonatas was composed shortly before the famous ‘Pathétique’ Sonata No. 8, Op. 13.

The first, No. 5, is in the deeply personal and anguished key of C minor, the same key Beethoven would go on to use for the ‘Pathétique’ Sonata, as well as his final piano sonata, Op. 111, Piano Concerto No. 3, and the fateful Symphony No. 5. Piano Sonata No. 6 brings a comparative impish lightness contrasted with the drama of its predecessor and, despite the sonata’s overall key of D major, the second movement of No. 7 takes a more melancholic turn which some have speculated could indicate Beethoven’s realisation of his encroaching deafness.

Track listing:

BEETHOVEN Sonata for Piano No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10 No. 1
Allegro molto e con brio
Adagio molto
Finale: Prestissimo

BEETHOVEN Sonata for Piano No. 6 in F major, Op. 10 No. 2
Allegro
Allegretto
Presto

BEETHOVEN Sonata for Piano No. 7 in D major, Op. 10 No. 3
Presto
Largo e mesto
Menuetto: Allegro
Rondo: Allegro

Founder and Music Director of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Marios Papadopoulos has recorded a series of discs dedicated to Beethoven’s piano sonatas.

The third in a series of five, this CD features Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Nos 9, 10 and 11, composed between 1799 and 1800.

Nos 9 and 10 were published together as Op. 14 and dedicated to Baroness Josefa von Braun, a talented amateur player. It is clear that Beethoven held these works in high regard, as the former was refashioned by the composer himself as a string quartet (H 34) – the only sonata to receive such treatment.

Piano Sonata No. 11 (Op. 22) was written a year after the previous pair in 1800, dedicated to Count Johann von Browne. This sonata is thought by some to be overshadowed by Beethoven’s other piano works, stuck in a curious limbo between the older style of the 18^th century and the great sonatas the composer would go on to write no more than a year later: the famous ‘Pastoral’ and ‘Moonlight’ sonatas.

Track listing:

BEETHOVEN Sonata for Piano No. 9 in E major, Op. 14 No. 1
Allegro
Allegretto
Rondo: Allegro comodo

BEETHOVEN Sonata for Piano No. 10 in G major, Op. 14 No. 2
Allegro
Andante
Scherzo: Allegro assai

BEETHOVEN Sonata for Piano No. 11 in B flat major, Op. 22
Allegro con brio
Adagio con molto espressione
Menuetto
Rondo: Allegretto

The Creation may be embraced by all who love the natural world, of whatever persuasion: Creationist, Darwinian, or something in between. Haydn wrote the oratorio during the years 1796 and 1798. The libretto – a kaleidoscope of landscape, flora and fauna (including man) – was perfectly adapted to his imagination, as vivid in his mid-sixties as it had been in his twenties. In terms of time and place, the work stands at a turning point in European thought, where the Enlightenment gives way to Romanticism, and man’s understanding of and relationship with Nature becomes a preoccupation. The vocal material used in the recording is based on nineteenth-century English editions arising out of the early performance history of the work in England. The work happily adapts to a moderately-sized orchestra and a College Choir, large enough for an uplifting tutti, small enough to personalise detail.

Charting his early career, the creation of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and his thoughts on musical interpretation, acclaimed pianist, conductor and entrepreneur Marios Papadopoulos releases Beyond Dreams and Aspirations: My journey to Oxford.  

In Beyond Dreams and Aspirations, Papadopoulos opens up on his path to becoming Founder and Music Director of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra in Residence at the University of Oxford, sharing insights into his encounters with the greatest musicians of the day and into the art of piano-playing and conducting.

Charting his early career, the creation of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and his thoughts on musical interpretation, acclaimed pianist, conductor and entrepreneur Marios Papadopoulos releases Beyond Dreams and Aspirations: My journey to Oxford.  

In Beyond Dreams and Aspirations, Papadopoulos opens up on his path to becoming Founder and Music Director of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra in Residence at the University of Oxford, sharing insights into his encounters with the greatest musicians of the day and into the art of piano-playing and conducting.

‘[Irmina Trynkos’] poise in the final quick-fire scrambling of the final-movement Allegro never falters and, under the muscular direction of Ashkenazy, the Oxford Philharmonic matches her sense of power and conviction.’ Catherine Nelson, The Strad
[Nimrod Borenstein recording]

 BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Concerto Choice of the Month’, December 2017

↔↔↔↔↔ ‘The orchestral playing and engineering is of bracing impact and captivating allure.’Julian Haylock, BBC Music Magazine

[Nimrod Borenstein recording]

The Choir of Merton College joins forces with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra for a recording of director Benjamin Nicholas’s favourite popular carols. 

Two of John Rutter’s most exquisite works are complemented by orchestral versions of well-loved traditional fare. From the ecstatic brass fanfares that introduce O come, all ye faithful and Hark! the herald-angels sing to the intimate performances of Elizabeth Poston’s beautiful Jesus Christ the apple tree and Morten Lauridsen’s O magnum mysterium, Christmas old and new is celebrated with a fresh sense of all its magic and glory. The choir and orchestra loved making this recording, and it shows. 

★★★★ – BBC Music Magazine, December 2017 

From the birth of Domenico Scarlatti to the death of Ernesto Lecuona – just shy of 300 years – comes nearly 75 minutes of piano favourites: evocations of land-, water- (or moon-) scapes, national characteristics and ideals such as heroism and revolution. All our composers were keyboard players and all but the earliest and latest characterised the ‘Romantic’ period of music – roughly from 1820 and the mainstay for a century – with Rachmaninov finding himself a Romantic in the more turbulent 20^th century, and Debussy’s ‘Impressionism’ something of a reaction to Romanticism itself. Marios Papadopoulos, described by The Times at his 1975 debut recital as ‘having all the attributes of one of the world’s greatest players’, leads us through this selection of his favourite pieces for solo piano.

… This music has been crying out for a complete modern recording, and it is a relief to find that this one is so successful”.
CD Review

“… This recording will form a more significant addition to the Shostakovich discography than the almost limitless flow of re-recordings of the symphonies and quartets with which we are inundated lately. Mr Papadopoulos has clearly prepared these pieces with such careful attention that his recording requires careful listening for the nuances to make their point; it’s not a recording for casual listening, but the rewards for both pianists and non-pianists alike are great … it should be considered an indispensable item for any Shostakovich enthusiast’s collection”.
Shostakovich Society

‘’…These works are very well played and engineered and are deserving of every congratulation”.
The Gramophone

“… Marios Papadopoulos is a highly gifted player whose enterprise in recording the preludes & fugues deserves the highest praise… Papadopoulos is both sensitive and intelligent, and is generally well recorded”.
The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

“… The latter, [Papadopoulos], for his part, plays these pieces with a scrupulous regard for polyphonic clarity and a dazzling finger technique that is well served by a closer, cleaner acoustical balance”.
Musical Times

Vladimir Ashkenazy and Mats Lidström (OPO Solo Cello) began their collaboration in London in the 1980s, during Ashkenazy’s tenure at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra where Lidström was principal cellist. They have since appeared together in concert as well as on disc, including a recording of concertos by Kabalevsky and Khachaturian on BIS. They are here reunited, in front of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, in a performance of what has become a true modern classic: Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1. The concerto was composed in 1959, during the so-called Khruschev Thaw, but even though Soviet censorship and repression had relaxed somewhat following the death of Stalin, the approval from the mighty Composers’ Union was still needed before any public performances could take place. When the concerto was performed before the Union’s committee, Vladimir Ashkenazy – then in his early twenties – was present and has recounted how nervous and uncomfortable Shostakovich appeared while observing the reactions of the committee.

The disc opens with Mats Lidström’s own Rigoletto Fantasy, based on Verdi’s opera. Inspired by virtuosic violin pieces such Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy, and with professional experience from the orchestra pit of the Royal Swedish Opera, Lidström has selected a string of highlights from Rigoletto, including of course the Duke’s ‘La donna è mobile’ and Gilda’s ‘Caro nome’, joining them together in a virtuosic, dramatic and moving narrative.

“Papadopoulos is not merely in command of difficult piano parts, but has the RPO players splendidly in hand in both ensemble works. This is nothing short of amazing in the Stravinsky concerto. Hyperion’s 1984 recording deserves strong recommendation for its sturdy musical and technical values”.
Fanfare