The Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Marcello Palazzo with Marios Papadopoulos at the piano, plays Beethoven's Creatures of Prometheus Overture, Piano Concerto No. 4 and the 'Pastoral' Symphony.
The Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra take over the Sheldonian Theatre on Friday 5 February 2027 with a programme of Beethoven, conducted and performed by Marios Papadopoulos. It's the opening night of a Beethoven Symposium weekend that runs from 5 to 7 February, and the concert sits within the Ertegun Series, sponsored by The Ioana Maria Banu Ertegun Trust.
There are three works on the bill. It opens with The Creatures of Prometheus Overture, Op. 43, followed by the Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, with Papadopoulos on piano as well as conducting. The night finishes with Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, better known as the Pastoral.
There's a clear thread running through the pairing. The Fourth Concerto is one of Beethoven's more conciliatory piano concertos, trading shock and awe for gentle conversation and poetic reflection. The Pastoral turns away from the great issues of mankind to take listeners on a restorative walk in the countryside. Together they lean into the composer's more intimate, less heroic side — the side that often gets overlooked in the popular imagination.
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If you want a bit of context before the music starts, there's a pre-concert talk by Nicholas Mathew at 18:30, which draws out that same quieter side of Beethoven. The concert itself follows at 19:30. The weekend continues after that with the London Haydn Quartet, the Rautio Trio, and the Soloists of the Oxford Philharmonic. Tickets range from £18 to £58, with student prices starting from £5.
