The Sixteen adds to its stunning Handel collection with a brand new recording of Dixit Dominus set alongside a little know treasure - Agostino Steffani’s Stabat Mater.

Full of virtuosity, vibrant colour and dynamic energy, Handel’s Dixit Dominus captures absolutely the Italian style of the period. Handel’s control of forces is masterly and the range of texture and style is breathtaking. Written during the composer’s time in Italy in the early eighteenth century it is amongst his first autographed works and also one of his finest.

By comparison Agostino Steffani’s little known Stabat Mater was one of his last compositions. Written for the Academy of Vocal Music in London, this work is the most powerful expression of Steffani’s religious fervour and, outside opera, his largest, most varied and most heartfelt composition.

The Sixteen, who have just scooped the Classic FM / Gramophone Awards ‘Artist of the Year’, here perform an exceptionally vivid account of one of Handel’s most popular works, the Dixit Dominus, and of the less well-known Stabat Mater of Steffani.

Full of virtuosity, vibrant colour and dynamic energy, Handel’s Dixit Dominus captures absolutely the Italian style of the period. Handel shows a control of forces that is masterly, and the range of texture and style is breathtaking. Written during his time in Italy in the early eighteenth century, it is amongst his first autographed works and also one of his finest.

By comparison, the little-known Stabat Mater was one of Agostino Steffani’s last compositions. Written for the Academy of Vocal Music in London, this work is the most powerful expression of Steffani’s religious fervour and, outside opera, the composer’s largest, most varied and most heartfelt composition.