The history of Handel's
oratorio The Triumph of Time and
Truth spans just fifty years. Handel
composed the first version in Rome in
1707, on a libretto by Cardinal Pamfili.
A reworked version was performed in
1737 in London. The title was changed
from 'Il Trionfo del Tempo e del
Disinganno' into 'Il Trionfo
del Tempo e della Verità',
and now contained a number of choruses,
in line with the practice Handel had
adopted in his English oratorios.
In 1757 Handel returned
to the oratorio again. He asked Thomas
Morell to translate the Italian libretto
into versified English to fit the arias
and choruses and to provide the necessary
recitatives. In this third version Handel
added new music, which was in fact old
music. Since at that time he was hardly
able to compose, due to his bad eyesight,
he borrowed from earlier works. The
next year he revised the oratorio once
again, adding music which he adapted
from his own works. "The present recording
follows the 1757 version (thus without
the extra arias of 1758), but omits
two brief recitatives deleted in 1758
and two choruses ('Then shall I teach'
and 'Comfort them, O Lord') which were
taken without change from anthems and
seem at odds with their new context",
writes Watkins Shaw in the booklet.
Normally I am rather
sceptical about recordings which present
a mixture of several versions. From
a historical perspective the recording
of a version which was authorised by
the composer has to be preferred. But
I can understand the arguments for the
decision taken here. Although the lyrics
of the omitted choruses are not quoted,
the first line of the second chorus
suggests a religious content, which
is rather out of line in this oratorio,
which is not of a religious nature.
The only reference to the Christian
faith is in the last aria, where Beauty
sings "Guardian angels, oh, protect
me, (...) while resigned to Heaven above".
And the oratorio closes with an "Alleluja"
sung by the chorus. But otherwise this
oratorio is of a more general moralistic
nature rather than specifically Christian.
But appearances are
deceptive. In fact this work is an allegory,
in which the overall theme is the vanity
of all earthly things. This is a deeply
Christian thought, based on the book
Ecclesiastes, where the words 'vanitas
vanitatum' (in the Vulgate, the Latin
translation of the Bible) are repeated
time and again. And vanity is one of
the main motifs in European paintings
of the renaissance and the baroque eras.
The Triumph of Time and Truth is
part of a long tradition of moral plays
in Western history. In music one of
the most famous examples is Emilio de'
Cavalieri's sacred opera 'Rappresentazione
di Anima e di Corpo'. In this kind
of plays the main character has to decide
between good and evil, truth and deceit,
worldly and heavenly or contemporary
and eternal matters - in the end, between
God and the devil.
Here the main character
is Beauty. In the first act she admires
herself in the mirror - which is depicted
by the echo-effects in the orchestral
introduction to her first aria, 'Faithful
mirror, fair-reflecting' - and is assured
by Pleasure that her youthful charms
will never fade. Counsel (Truth), however,
argues that youth will vanish with Time,
and that she should follow Truth. Pleasure
is supported by Deceit, Counsel by Time.
In the second act the debate continues:
Counsel and Time offer Beauty the mirror
of Truth which shows things the way
they really are. Whereas Deceit insists
that life is only now and here, Counsel
argues that without Truth all pleasures
are vain. In the third act Beauty is
gradually moving towards the other side
of the argument, throwing away her old
mirror and looking into the mirror of
Truth. Pleasure, confronted with his
defeat, seeks his own death: "Truth
drives me to despair; open, ye rocks,
and hide me there".
Although this recording
dates from the early 1980s it is still
very much worth listening to. All soloists
are in fine form and generally well
cast. The only exception is Stephen
Varcoe, who seems to me a little too
light-weight for the role of Time. I
had preferred someone like David Thomas.
I have never been a strong admirer of
Gillian Fisher's singing, but here she
is admirable in her interpretation of
the role of Beauty. Some highlights
are her aria in the first act, 'Ever-flowing
tides of pleasure', and the very moving
'Guardian angels, oh, protect me' at
the end of the oratorio,. Charles Brett
is a singer whose voice I often find
a little too weak, in particular in
the lower register. Here it is only
a problem in the duet between Brett
and the chorus at the beginning of the
first act, 'Time is supreme'. Otherwise
he sings his role quite well. And he
has some of the most beautiful arias
to sing, like 'Mortals think that Time
is sleeping' and 'On the valleys, dark
and cheerless' (both in Act 2). Ian
Partridge has a voice which doesn't
appeal to me for its natural beauty,
and his interpretation doesn't always
grab me. But in his last aria, 'Like
clouds, stormy winds then impelling',
he gives a good impression of the despair
of Pleasure who wants to die having
lost the argument against Truth. Emma
Kirkby has a rather small role, but
sings it well, and shines in her only
aria, 'Melancholy' (Act 2).
Both choir and orchestra
give good performances. In some choruses
the small solo parts are sung by members
of the choir, and there is some lovely
playing by members of the orchestra
- who, unfortunately, are not mentioned
- in the obbligato parts in several
arias.
A search on the internet
revealed that this is the only recording
of this oratorio to date, which is rather
surprising, considering its quality.
That in itself is reason enough to recommend
it. But fortunately this recommendation
is supported by the level of the performance.
That it is reissued in Hyperion's budget
series is a welcome bonus.
Johan van Veen
Gillian Fisher (Beauty), Emma Kirkby (Deceit),
soprano; Charles Brett (Counsel, or Truth), alto;
Ian Partridge (Pleasure), tenor; Stephen Varcoe
(Time), baritone 
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