When you read ‘George Frideric Handel’ at Christmas time, you think of the ‘Messiah’. (Or?)
But the German composer created other Christmas masterpieces in his younger years. In the summer of 1706, the 21-year-old Handel travelled to Italy to learn the flourishing Italian style that was captivating Europe. During this period of his life, he composed an impressive number of psalms, cantatas and sacred motets. With the partly festive, partly intimate works ‘Dixit Dominus’ and ‘Nisi Dominus’, he immediately enchanted his Roman patrons.
The incomparable ensemble Vox Luminis performs this music by the young Handel with Italian flair - an atmospheric and joyful Christmas concert.
The magazine ‘Toccata’ praised Vox Luminis' recording of Handel's “Dixit Dominus” as a “unique listening pleasure”. The renowned Gramophone magazine also described it as ‘simply outstanding: sparkling, subtle and beautifully controlled’.