If, after the period-instrument strings have made their sharply pointed entry, ''Dick'' does not promptly ''sit'' it is not for want of clear invitations from Preston's rigorously trained vocal forces (8.8.4.5.5), and thereafter the standard of enunciation remains as high as might reasonably be expected—and as the spacious but not over-resonant acoustic permits. Purposeful energy and precision are more abundant in this new version than in either of the others—''con-qua-ssa-bitt'' a succession of knife-edged hammer blows (to mix martial metaphors), and the contrasts are managed to maximum effect. In the more animated sections Preston chooses tempos that are brisker than Cleobury's (Decca) and close to those of Ohrwall (BIS/Conifer), but his is the most unhurried in ''De torrente'', of which Arleen Auger and Lynne Dawson make the most, heightening the impact of the ''Gloria'' which, the quickest of the three, enters triumphantly on the organ. ''De torrente'' is beautifully sung in all three recordings but though both strings and singers lean into the dissonances it is in this newest one that they also back-pedal most effectively on their resolutions—one small instance of the detail that makes this clearly the best version of the Dixit Dominus yet.
Each of the three recordings disposes differently of the remaining time: the Concerto grosso, Op. 6 No. 6, Ohrwall's choice, is not the most natural of bedfellows nor does it yield a well-filled disc (49 minutes); Cleobury does better with the Laudate pueri Dominum (56 minutes) and so too does Preston with two works that have only one other recording on Compact Disc. The Nisi Dominus, a psalm setting, and the votive antiphon Salve regina are smaller but no less beautiful works. Handel was not one to let a pictorial image elude him and at ''sicut sagittae'' in the Nisi Dominus the violins launch arrows with alarmingly sharp points. It is the soloists who dominate in both works: the Salve regina is the 'property' of Arleen Auger, who subjugates clarity of diction to emotional response and beauty of line in a moving performance, whilst the other soloists (bar Lynne Dawson, who has no solo movement anywhere) are equally effective in the Nisi Dominus, where the choir enter only in the opening and closing movements. In every respect, including the quality and balance of the recording, this is as fine a programme of its kind as I have heard in a long time. '