One of the most successful works that Georg Friedrich Handel wrote in London is his ode "Alexander's Feast or The Power of Music". Handel composed this "Alexanderfest" as a tribute to Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. Based on the great English choral tradition, the Alexanderfest tells the story of the general Alexander the Great, who is moved to great deeds by the power of music, and is based on a then famous text written by John Dryden in 1697. At the premiere in 1736, 1,300 listeners, including the royal family, celebrated Handel's high-contrast, exciting music for vocal soloists, choir and orchestra from majestic to melancholy. In an excellent new recording, the young Swiss Vox Orchestra, which specializes in historical performance practice, under the direction of conductor Lorenzo Ghirlanda, presents Handel's masterpiece at deutsche harmonia mundi - after a first, highly acclaimed recording with works by Purcell and Locke. For the new recording, the ensemble strengthened itself with the Vox choir and - in the solo parts - with Marie Sophie Pollak (soprano), Tobias Hunger (tenor) and Kresimir Strazanac (bass baritone).