Nicola Lisle asks Marios Papadopoulos, director of Oxford Philomusica about a concert to mark two landmark birthdays

It seems no time at all since I was chatting to Marios Papadopoulos about his 50th birthday. Yet incredibly, I am now talking to him about celebrations for his 60th.

If those years have flown for me, they must have positively galloped by for a man approaching official UK retirement age. He chuckles at the suggestion. “Oh, haven’t they just! I’ve just ordered my free travel pass!”

On a more serious note, he adds: “My hope is that I can continue to contribute at the level I would like to contribute at. But when you’re entering almost your final phase of artistic output, if you like, I’m just hoping my health will be good enough to allow me to do all the things I would like to do with the orchestra.”

The orchestra, of course, is the Oxford Philomusica, which Marios founded in 1998, and which has risen to become one of the country’s top regional orchestras. Understandably, he is immensely proud of its achievements.

“It’s gone through a lot of transformation in the last five years. That fact that people such as Nigel Kennedy and Anne-Sophie Mutter want to come and work with us is a testament of their evaluation of the orchestra. So that’s great to see.”

Marios is sharing his birthday jamboree with Maxim Vengerov, the sensational Russian violinist and conductor who is the Philomusica’s first artist-in-residence, and who turned 40 in August — so together the pair have clocked up a hundred years. It’s the perfect excuse for a magnificent centennial celebration that showcases the playing and conducting talents of both men with two of the greatest concertos in the classical music repertoire.

First up will be Tchaikovsky’s technically demanding Violin Concerto in D Major. “This was a piece that Maxim recently did at the Festival Hall, and so it seemed nice to do it with him in Oxford,” says Marios.

This will be followed by Brahms’ epic Piano Concerto No.2 in B flat major, which Marios describes as “an important work of symphonic proportions”.

“It’s monumental,” he says. “It requires a huge amount of stamina simply to get through it.

“For a pianist to play that, you need to be not just a musician but almost an athlete, so I’m just hoping I will be on form on that night and do justice to the piece.”

The concert is also a celebration of the rapport that has built up between Maxim and the Philomusica over the last few months.

Earlier this year Maxim played Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major with the orchestra at the Sheldonian Theatre, and the piece has now been recorded for release on CD early in 2015, the first on Maxim’s new record label, Vengerov Music Vision. There are also plans to record the Sibelius Violin Concerto next year.

Meanwhile, Marios is looking further into the future, with lots more in the pipeline for the orchestra.

“We’ve got some very exciting plans for autumn 2015/16. We’re now planning 2016/17 — we’re even planning 2020! By that time I will be 65/66, which is when most people retire, but we shall see!”

Oxford Philomusica: A Centennial Celebration
Sheldonian Theatre
Saturday, 7pm
Tickets: Call 01865 305305 or visit ticketsoxford.com