Handel: Coronation Anthems / The Sixteen

The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers

Coronation Anthems: Zadok the Priest Let thy hand be strengthened The King shall rejoice My heart is inditing Plus Arrival of the Queen of Sheba and extracts from Messiah

Gramophone Award Winner - Baroque Vocal 2009
Gramophone Editor's Choice - April 2009
'Overall, this disc ranks as The Sixteen's most exciting achievement in its impressive Handel discography' 'Fresh, spontaneous Coronation Anthems that leap to the top of the heap' David Vickers Editor's Choice - Gramophone / Disc of the month April 2009 Harry Christophers and The Sixteen add a brand new recording of Handel’s Coronation Anthems to their stunning catalogue of Handel discs. In one of his last undertakings before his death in 1727, King George I signed an ‘Act for the naturalising of George Frideric Handel’ amongst others. One of Handel’s first tasks as a naturalised British Citizen was to write the music for the Coronation of the new monarch - King George II which was to take place later that year. Rarely did a composer of the day have such an audience for his new works and Handel’s four Anthems were written to match the pomp and grandeur of the occasion and, of course, the venue – Westminster Abbey. The Coronation Anthems have delighted audiences ever since and appear in all their glory on this recording interspersed with a selection of Handel favourites including Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Handel’s Organ Concerto in F Major Op.4 No.4 and two extracts from Messiah. Of The Sixteen’s recent recording of Handel’s Messiah: “a Messiah of splendid vitality and authority, a summation of Christophers’s and The Sixteen’s Handelian enterprise.” International Record Review “this is an ‘ensemble’ Messiah with everything (including the superb instrumental playing and imaginatively realised continuo) directed towards the unfolding of an involving theological narrative…” BBC Music Magazine

Price: $27.98

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