Composer: George Frideric Handel
Performer: RIAS Kammerchor
Orchestra: Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Conductor: Justin Doyle
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Catalogue: HMM902723
Release: 2024
Size: 1.05 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Dixit Dominus, HWV 232
01. I. Dixit Dominus
02. II. Virgam virtutis tuae
03. III. Tecum principium in die virtutis
04. IV. Juravit Dominus
05. V. Tu es sacerdos in aeternum
06. VI. Dominus a dextris tuis
07. VII. Judicabit in nationibus
08. VIII. De torrente in via bibet
09. IX. Gloria Patri
Nisi Dominus, HWV 238
10. I. Nisi Dominus
11. II. Vanum est vobis
12. III. Cum dederit
13. IV. Sicut sagittae
14. V. Beatus vir
15. VI. Gloria Patri
Laudate pueri, HWV 237
16. I. Laudate pueri
17. II. Sit nomen Domini
18. III. A solis ortu
19. IV. Excelsus super omnes
20. V. Quis sicut Dominus
21. VI. Suscitans a terra
22. VII. Qui habitare facit
23. VIII. Gloria Patri
It was in Rome, where he resided between 1707 and 1710, that the young Handel composed these three dazzling sacred works. The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and the RIAS Kammerchor give us an extremely lively and colourful reading of these pieces in which the composer showcased his talent: allegiance to the forms of the past, total mastery of counterpoint and, already, a unique feeling for storytelling.
The three Handel Latin psalm settings on this 2024 release by the RIAS Kammerchor and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin were all composed in 1707 in Italy when Handel was 21 or 22 and had just unleashed his talent on the wide world. The Dixit Dominus, HWV 232, and Nisi Dominus, HWV 238, are well known, the soprano-and-chorus setting Laudate pueri, HWV 237, perhaps a bit less so. This recording, in any event, is state-of-the-art Handel. The music seems to catch the composer advancing by leaps and bounds into his mature style, and conductor Justin Doyle seems to catch this with his muscular performances of music that seamlessly integrates solid blocks of polyphony with irresistible melody. The RIAS Kammerchor here is amply sized, with ten sopranos (two fewer in Laudate pueri), looking forward to a time in England when Handel would have larger forces at his disposal. The performances are vigorous, with attention throughout to the tone painting, never overdone, that Handel includes at various places. Perhaps the best of all is the set of soloists, headed by veteran soprano Carolyn Sampson in Laudate pueri, but displaying some wonderful up-and-comers, notably countertenor Alex Potter, in the two larger works. With clear, direct sound from the Haus des Rundfunks in Berlin from Harmonia Mundi, this is Handel at his best.