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Handel’s earliest oratorio, dating from 1707, is an allegory in which the character of Beauty is tempted to a life of hedonism by Pleasure but is reasoned with by Time and Enlightenment and turns into a modest, better-balanced type. If this sounds dull, it isn’t. The young Handel, in Rome at the time, composed some of his most wonderfully Italianate melodies and was at the peak of his inspiration. Handelians will recognize bits in this work that he later used elsewhere. This performance is now the best available; while the one led by Rinaldo Alessandrini is excellent, here the always original and clever Emmanuelle Haim leads a superb cast, with Natalie Dessay (who has nine arias!) and Sonia Prina absolutely perfect and Ann Hallenberg and Pavol Breslik not far behind. Handel re-adapted this work at the end of his career, by the way, to an English translation. This is a sheer delight. --Robert Levine