Dixit Dominus

Musica Viva pays homage to the compositional beginnings of this exceptional talent, whose fame was established with his works from this period, with two youthful masterpieces by the baroque German export George Frideric Handel, who stayed in Italy from 1706 to 1710.
In 1706, Handel traveled from Hamburg to Italy at his own expense to study Italian opera. After a short stay in Florence and Venice, where he had already begun work on “Dixit Dominus” and “Laudate pueri”, he completed both works in Rome in 1707 at the age of just 22. Both works were performed together at the premiere in Rome under Handel’s own direction.
Grammy award-winner Dorothee Mields (soprano), who is equally at home at all major international festivals and in the most important concert halls in Europe, is the perfect interpreter of these two fiery works by the young Handel under the direction of festival director Stephan Lutermann.

With the multi-award-winning baroque orchestra L’harpa festante, Mields has a worthy partner for these groundbreaking oratorios by Handel. The festival choir completes the line-up of performers a good 300 years after the first performance of these two works.