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The Triumph of Time and Truth is, paradoxically, both Handel's first and last oratorio. He originally composed this allegory on the transience of beauty and worldly pleasure (with only four singers, a chamber orchestra, and an Italian text) for his patron, a Roman cardinal, in 1707 when he was just 22. By 1758, the year Handel died, the work had become an English oratorio with five soloists, full orchestra, and choir. The final version is still available in an excellent 1982 recording (with a cast including Emma Kirkby and Ian Partridge); this release, which followed 1998 performances at the Aston Magna Festival in Massachusetts, presents the 1707 original version, but with the arias in Italian and the recitatives translated into English. (As usual, Handel fans can have fun spotting which music the composer adapted for later works.) Don't be put off by the fact that this is (nominally, at least) a piece of moralizing: the music--all of it--is consistently delightful, even by Handel's standards. The singers and players alike perform with energy, charm, taste, and imagination (particularly in their added ornaments). Soprano Dominique Labelle (Pleasure) and tenor William Hite (Time) give the most engaging performances I've ever heard from them; countertenor Jeffrey Gall (Truth) copes reasonably well with a low-lying role that would better suit a female contralto. Soprano Sharon Baker is spectacular: a tone lovely enough to suit the role of Beauty, excellent diction, and amazing breath control and coloratura--this performance ought to make her a star. --Matthew Westphal