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GRAMOPHONE (10/2016)
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Reviewer: David Vickers

We have no idea who commissioned the Dixit Dominus, where it was first performed or by whom; we only know that upon its completion the 22-year-old Handel signed and dated the manuscript in Rome in April 1707. It is amazing that nobody before has had the excellent idea to partner the great psalm-setting with the Marian cantatas Ah, che troppo ineguali and Donna che in ciel (both probably also written in Rome in 1707). Each work is recorded live by the Ghislieri Choir & Consort in a different location.

The poetry of Donna che in ciel seems to allude to the annual commemoration of the dreadful earthquake near Rome on February 2, 1703. In a concert at Göttingen Handel Festival, Prandi’s ensemble amply captures the striking tone of the tense overture; articulate concerto grosso strings and Maria Espada’s nuanced singing convey panache in the flamboyant big aria ‘Vacillò per terror del primo errore’. Her singing is even better in the contemplative accompanied recitative and gentle continuo aria at the cantata’s centre. Handel reserved the choir for the finale, and the dramatically charged contrapuntal lines and impactful rhetoric contain several techniques and ideas also found in the most spectacular choral passages of Dixit Dominus.  

Espada also sings eloquently in Ah, che troppo ineguali (recorded in Pavia), which seems to refer to the War of Spanish Succession; the suspension-laden B minor aria is sung and played beautifully. Dixit Dominus smacks the listener with compulsive vividness. Prandi exploits the dissonances and theatricality of the sweeping strings that launch the psalm; sculpted choral singing communicates text and fugal ideas with vigorous precision. The choir of nearly 30 voices is muscular and often unbridled (especially the sopranos’ vibrato), but the choral singing is disciplined with regards to rhythmical energy and text. There are more than a few rough edges to both string playing and singing (this performance from the Ambronay Festival is truly warts-and-all), but the brawniness of full-blooded fugues and extrovert tone will appeal to anyone who relishes plenty of guts in Handel’s choral music.

 

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