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A meeting with the sublime Dixit Dominus by Handel, a work of remarkable vocal virtuosity and expressive power, making it one of the composer’s greatest choral masterpieces. Bach’s motet Jesu, meine Freude also belongs to the finest sacred repertoire of the entire Baroque era. Opening the program is a brief yet deeply moving motet by Bach’s predecessor at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
This concert is presented with the support of the Azrieli Foundation and The Flora Ann Birks Foundation.
Duration: 1 hour and 45 minutes, including a 20-minute intermission
About the Work
Composed in 1707 in Rome, when Handel was just 22 years old, the Dixit Dominus is one of the most virtuosic and striking choral works in the Baroque repertoire. Set to Psalm 110, this early masterpiece already reveals an extraordinary compositional genius.
Rome, 1707: A City Buzzing with Music
In Rome, the papal ban on public opera performances seemed to fuel the flames rather than extinguish them. Under the guise of oratorios and cantatas, operatic vocal music made its way into the Catholic Church, with several cardinals — Pamphili, Ottoboni and Colonna — becoming patrons of composers. The palaces of these wealthy clergymen became secret havens for opera. It was in this vibrant environment that the young Handel composed the Dixit Dominus.
A Work That Moves Its Audiences
The Dixit Dominus is one of Handel's first compositions for choir — a breathtaking work that moved the religious authorities so deeply that they offered to convert him to Catholicism, which he politely declined.
An Extraordinary Musical Challenge
By far the most demanding work Handel ever wrote for voices, it is a fascinating fusion of German and Italian styles. The brilliance of the fugal and contrapuntal sections is particularly striking — at times, three or four figures unfold simultaneously, distributed among the different vocal parts and the orchestra.
The score is written for five vocal soloists, a five-part chorus and a five-part string orchestra — a grand concerto for all these forces, in which Handel demands energy and breadth, phenomenal agility and precision, declamatory vigour and lyrical expressiveness.
A Foreshadowing of the Messiah
Although Handel would not compose Messiah until thirty-five years later, he thoroughly explores here the choral and orchestral structures and textures that would become its hallmarks. The Dixit Dominus thus stands as the secret blueprint for one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of music.
A landmark Work
The Dixit Dominus surpasses Handel's two other Latin psalm settings in both scope and design. Its universal appeal makes it today an essential choice for festive worship services and major concert stages alike.
Starting at 3:15 PM, join our captivating pre-concert discussion that will introduce you to the musical universe of the upcoming performance, offering essential listening insights and enriching perspectives on the program.
Conductors and soloists
Bernard Labadie
ConductorLes Violons du Roy and La Chapelle de Québec Music Director
Ann Birks Chairholder*
Internationally renowned for his expertise in Baroque and Classical repertoire, Bernard Labadie is the founding conductor of Les Violons du Roy, where he served as music director from 1984 to 2014 and returns to the position at the end of October 2025. He is also music director of La Chapelle de Québec choir, which he founded in 1985.
As head of both ensembles, he has toured Europe and North America performing at some of the most illustrious concert halls and festivals: Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center (New York), Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), Kennedy Center (Washington), the Barbican (London), Berlin Philharmonie, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (Paris), Brussels’ Centre for Fine Arts, and the Salzburg, Bergen, Rheingau, and Schleswig-Holstein festivals.
In 2017, Bernard Labadie took up the position of principal conductor of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York, a post he leaved at the end of the 2024–2025 season after eight highly successful years. He has conducted the orchestra’s annual concert series at Carnegie Hall, often accompanied by La Chapelle de Québec.
A much sought-after guest conductor in North America, he makes frequent appearances with major American and Canadian orchestras: Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Houston, New World Symphony, Montréal, Toronto and Ottawa. In Europe, he has conducted the Mozarteum of Salzburg and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the orchestras of Lyon, Bordeaux-Aquitaine, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. He has also headed several radio orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich, the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the radio orchestras in Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Hanover, and Helsinki.
Bernard Labadie regularly collaborates with some of the most prestigious period-instrument early music ensembles: Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, The English Concert, Academy of Ancient Music, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Handel and Haydn Society (Boston).
At the opera, he served as artistic director of Opéra de Québec from 1994 to 2003 and as artistic director of Opéra de Montréal from 2002 to 2006. He has also appeared as guest conductor with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, and the Santa Fe, Cincinnati, and Glimmerglass operas. In 2021, he made his debut appearance at the Glyndebourne Festival.
Both as a guest conductor and with Les Violons du Roy, Bernard Labadie has recorded some twenty albums for Virgin Classics (now Erato), EMI, Pentatone, Dorian, ATMA, Hyperion, and Naïve.
A tireless ambassador for music in his hometown of Québec City, Bernard Labadie was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Knight of the Ordre national du Québec, and Compagnon des arts et des lettres du Québec. He is also a recipient of the Medal of Honour of the National Assembly of Québec, the Banff Centre’s National Arts Award, the Samuel de Champlain Award, and honorary doctorates from Université Laval (Alma Mater) and the Manhattan School of Music.
*The position of Music Director of La Chapelle de Québec is endowed through the generosity of Mrs. Ann Birks.
La Chapelle de Québec
Chamber choirCreated in 1985 by founding conductor and music director Bernard Labadie, La Chapelle de Québec is one of North America’s premiere voice ensembles. The group is made up exclusively of professional singers who are hand picked from all over Canada. This unique chamber choir specializes in the choral/orchestral repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries. The choir performs regularly with its other half, chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy, and as a guest choir with some of the finest orchestras in North America. Its interpretations of the oratorios, requiems, masses, and cantatas of Bach, Handel, Mozart, and Haydn, as well as Fauré and Duruflé, are frequently hailed in the Canadian and international press.
La Chapelle de Québec is heard regularly at Palais Montcalm in Quebec City and Maison symphonique in Montreal, as well as at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, at Carnegie Hall with Les Violons du Roy and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and in Ottawa with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. The choir’s concerts are often broadcast by the CBC and Radio-Canada in Canada and by National Public Radio in the United States.
La Chapelle de Québec is also known for its role in Chemin de Noël, an annual event that brings music lovers from throughout the Québec City region together every December. The Chemin de Noël was recorded on an ATMA disc released in November 2021.
Program
Motet Tristis est anima mea
Motet Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 227
• Concerto grosso in D Minor, Op. 6 No. 10, HWV 328
• Dixit Dominus, HWV 232
Other performances of the concert
Partners
