The Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, with His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts, perform Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, conducted by Marios Papadopoulos.
The Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir are performing Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 at the Sheldonian Theatre on Saturday 21 November, with Marios Papadopoulos conducting. It's a big one for the Oxford Philharmonic, bringing together both their orchestra and choir for a single work, and they're joined by His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts on the brass.
If you're not familiar with the Vespers, it's a massive collection of psalms, motets and sinfonias that sits right on the fault line between the Renaissance and the Baroque. It's described as a work that changed the course of musical history, and that's because it pulls in two directions at once: the austerity of the older style and the dramatic theatricality of the newer one. It can feel as emotional as opera and as eternal as plainsong, and the way the voices and instruments are staged around the performance space turns it into an immersive experience rather than a standard concert. It's a rare interpretative challenge, and the Sheldonian is a fitting place for it.
The Sheldonian is a unique Oxford venue that hosts a rich programme of concerts, talks and lectures, and it's the home of the Sheldonian Series, which brings music to its historic rooms. This performance is part of that series, and there's a pre-concert talk at 18:30, given by Sir Nicholas Kenyon, which frames the Vespers as one of the rediscoveries of our age. If you've never heard the piece before, it's a good place to start before the music begins.
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The concert starts at 19:30, with the pre-concert talk an hour earlier. Tickets are £18, £30, £32, £42 and £58, with student tickets from £5.
