Il Trionfo is where the eternal battle between
fleeting pleasure and enduring truth unfolds through vivid allegory. Composed
in Rome in 1707, George Frideric Handel’s very first oratorio Il Trionfo del
Tempo e del Disinganno (The Triumph of Time and Disillusion) brings to
life four embodiments: Beauty, Pleasure, Time, and Disillusionment. As the
soaring melodies and ornate arias unfold, Beauty finds herself torn between the
seductive promises of Pleasure and the sobering counsel of Time and
Disillusionment, ultimately discovering a path of wisdom and spiritual clarity.
Experience this story–as relevant now as it was three centuries ago–told
through one of the Baroque era’s greatest musical minds.