The Sixteen gave their London debut concert at St John's Smith Square on May 12, 1979. In the pre-concert talk at London's Southbank Centre exactly 30 years later three of the original singers from that debut shared their memories with Harry Christophers and three newer members of his ensemble. It was impressive to note that two of those original singers, Sally Dunkley and Christopher Royall, still regularly perform with The Sixteen.
Since 2009 is also the 350th anniversary of the death of Henry Purcell both halves of the programme opened with short pieces by him, firstly with the almost hypnotic Chacony in G minor and then the second half with his anthem Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem. And to honour the 250th anniversary of Handel's death the evening closed with his Dixit Dominus. The careers of these two composers constitute one of the most remarkable periods in London's music-making and binding them together was a setting of Stabat Mater dolorosa by the little-known Agostino Steffani, who was elected president of the city's Academy of Vocal Music (later known as the Academy of Ancient Music) in 1727.
The standard of The Sixteen's orchestra is always incredibly high and this concert was no exception, but I did feel that the opening Chacony took a while to settle down. They seemed much happier when the singers joined them for Steffani's Stabat Mater dolorosa, which opened with a beautiful solo from Elin Manahan Thomas. In fact the quality of all of the stand-out solos were special; Jeremy Budd and Mark Dobell's high tenor solos and Rob Macdonald's impressively low bass solos were very exciting and the two sopranos, Elin Manahan Thomas and Grace Davidson, were beautifully balanced. It was just a shame that Steffani's work had to be performed in the Queen Elizabeth Hall since it really needed a more generous acoustic to do justice to its grandeur and passion and maybe a little more time to linger over some of the astonishing counterpoint. This performance felt a little incongruous amongst all of that 1960's concrete and horridly stark lighting.
Having said that, the second half of the evening had a different feel altogether. Right from the beginning of Purcell's Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem the orchestra were much more exciting with a firmer blend and obvious panache. The singers, too, seemed happier in a new seating arrangement (sopranos in front) and their voices carried easily. However it was Handel's Dixit Dominus that really stole the show. I had initial misgivings when I realized quite how fast Harry Christophers was going to take the performance. But after the blaze of the opening chorus two captivating solos from Ruth Clegg and Grace Davidson dispelled any doubts I might have had, with Davidson particularly impressing as she somehow found time to savour the onomatopoeic qualities of the word 'splendoribus'. That The Sixteen can still imbue the music with such passion and musical inflection at this pace is much to their credit as artists, but I couldn't help wishing that at least just in 'De torrente in via bibet' there might have been more room for reflection.
Both Handel's Dixit Dominus and Steffani's Stabat Mater dolorosa will be recorded by The Sixteen in the next few days and the album is due for release later in the year. Judging by the quality of this concert Steffani appears to be a composer worth knowing and a pleasing partner to Handel, so I shall be eagerly looking forward to this disc.
By Ed Breen
Photo: The Sixteen
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