Bach, Handel - Magnificat, Dixit Dominus

The Guardian 60

Vox Luminis/Meunier
(Alpha Classics)

As the celebrity University Challenge teams were much slower to identify this Magnificat as Bach’s than was my six-year-old grandson, a new recording may be a good place to start the year. Vox Luminis, with their distinctive approach to the 17th-century repertory, take their deft consort approach forward into these two brilliant 18th-century works. It’s refreshing to hear both without pile-driving rhythms and over-assertive singing. The gentle inflections and piercing precision of the Handel makes it more successful, highlighting the Italianate background of the piece; the even more demanding Bach taxes the soloists’ skills, though the clarity of the ensemble shines through this most concise of masterpieces.