(Photo: Genevieve Girling)

Written in 1707 while living in Italy, Händel’s first oratorio, “Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno,” was a work that he would return to again and again over his career. Not only did he mine it for arias he could use in his operas, but he also created two further versions of the piece. In 1737, he revised and expanded it into three parts and altered the title to “Il Trionfo del Tempo e della Verità,” and then in 1757, he created a version in English entitled “The Triumph of Time and Truth.”

Unlike many of his oratorios, however, “Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno” does not easily allow itself to be staged as a piece of theatre, not that this has prevented directors from attempting to do so. The problem is that it has a plot in which nothing much happens. Rather, it is a conversational piece in which four allegorical characters discuss modes of behavior that make for a fulfilling life. Bellezza (Beauty), enamored with her own beauty, is encouraged by Piacere (Pleasure) to devote herself to following life’s pleasures. Tempo (Time) and Disinganno (Disillusionment), however, disagree and seek to persuade her otherwise. The librettist, Cardinal Pamphilj, who had very strong opinions on such matters, verging on the puritanical, viewed the frivolous and pleasure-seeking life as sinful and one to be avoided. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the work concludes with Bellezza rejecting pleasure in favor of Tempo and Disinganno’s arguments and repents.

Spirei’s Imaginative and Captivating Reading

The difficulty in staging a work with so little physical action, however, appears to have acted as a stimulus to directors, who, over the past few years, have overseen a number of imaginative presentations, the latest of which, Jacopo Spirei’s production for the Buxton International Festival, must be rated as one of the most successful.

Spirei’s reading is founded on how the word ‘disinganno’ may be understood and how it affects the human condition. Translated as “disillusionment,” Pamphilj saw it as meaning a release from deception or as enlightenment. Spirei, however, accepted the more common interpretation with its negative connotations of disappointment or the loss of faith in one’s dreams, which had the effect of changing the message of the work. Instead of Bellezza attaining a state of enlightenment through transcending the fickleness and inevitable decay of a life dedicated to pleasure, the work is turned upon its head; by abandoning her dreams of pleasure, she fundamentally gives up on life itself and is left alone and miserable.

Spirei set the work in an average modern-day household consisting of four family members, allowing him to create two simultaneously unfolding narratives that were inextricably linked through a single discussion, with each of the four singers playing the role of an allegorical figure and a member of the family. The drama opened with Bellezza, a teenage girl on the cusp of adulthood, admiring herself in the mirror, encouraged by her sister Piacere. The two girls are rebellious and eager to engage with what life has to offer. Their world-weary mother, Disinganno, and their very responsible father, Tempo, are forever tying to reason with them, but are met with resistance and disinterest.

The ongoing discussion took place on Christmas Day, the centerpiece of which was the dinner, at which the family sat down to eat. As usual at such an event, there was plenty of forced good cheer and bickering. Following the dinner, Spirei illustrated his cynical attitude towards Pamphilj’s philosophical outlook by having the mother and father relax by smoking marijuana, which ended up with the whole family dancing around the stage; even the most puritanical cannot resist indulging themselves in a little pleasure on occasions!

Towards the end of Part two, Bellezza rejects Piacere’s entreaties to follow a life dedicated to pleasure and decides on a different pathway. Disinganno and Tempo, their work successfully completed, pack their bags and leave. Bellezza is left alone. The daughter has grown up, rejected the lifestyle of her sister and, as is inevitable, her parents have departed. Without pleasure, what is she left with? Is it the decay, hypocrisy and drudgery that time and disillusionment bring?

It was not, however, meant to be a didactic presentation but simply an interesting alternative interpretation arising from the ambiguity carried by the word ‘disillusionment.’ And, significantly, it did not go against the spirit of Händel’s music, which is often sympathetic towards Piacere.

Spirei was aided in his reading by the excellent designs of Anna Bonomelli. The single set comprised a living cum dining room typically associated with middle-class houses with a kitchen in the background, between which the mother figure continually moved while setting and clearing the table while her daughters lounged on the couch. On the left-hand side of the stage was the obligatory, nicely decorated Christmas tree.

Her stereotypical costume designs were used successfully to define the characters. Bellezza was attired in a sequined dress with plenty of make-up, ready for night out, while her sister, Piacere, had a more unconventional appearance, but one also suited to night out and deliberately fashioned to challenge her parents. The parents were humorously presented. Tempo was the boring, bespectacled, staid middle-class father, dressed in corduroy trousers and a round-neck woolen jumper, who lectured yet tolerated his more energetic daughters. His wife, Disinganno, had a costume that reflected her dull and dreary daily routine and made her look like a middle-aged frump.

It all came together superbly. It turned Handel and Pamphilj’s static consideration of a life devoted to pleasure into a family drama played out between the generations and came up with a different conclusion. It was dramatically active; it even amused in parts, and if it was against the spirit, if not the specific words, of Pamphilj’s text, it was no less convincing for the fact.

Curnyn Oversees Strong Musical Presentation

The musical side of the production was under the direction of Christian Curnyn, who elicited sensitive and dramatically compelling performances from the singers and The Early Opera Company orchestra, whose playing was clear and beautifully paced throughout, whilst maintaining a near-perfect balance between all the musical elements.

The four singers engaged fully with their characters, producing four very clearly defined and recognizable characters. Although the discussions in which they were involved were of a profound and serious nature, they all had a lot of fun with their portrayals, which often brought out amused laughter from the audience, and their singing was terrific.

Having recently reviewed soprano Anna Dennis’ excellent concert performance in the role of Bellezza at the Händel festival in Göttingen only a couple of months earlier, it came as a major surprise to see the extent to which she was able to add to it through her response to Spirei’s staging. On both occasions, her performance was superb, yet it was a very different Bellezza that we met in Buxton. At the end of the Göttingen production, Bellezza is fully repentant, having found the path towards enlightenment. In Buxton, however, finding herself alone in the living room, looking abandoned and miserable, and asking the angels to help her, she imbued her final aria, “Tu del Ciel ministro eletto,” with an emotionally forlorn heaviness that reinforced her now pitiful state and brought the oratorio to a powerful conclusion.

With seven other arias plus three ensemble pieces to sing, Bellezza is a role that allowed Dennis to show off her interpretative and technical talents to the full. In her opening aria, for example, “Fido specchio,” she mused on her beauty and its temporary nature, allowing her voice to dance across the vocal line, sensitively ornamented with gentle embellishments, while in her aria “Un pensiero nemico di pace” imaginatively set against the background of a heated family discussion, it was the purity of her upper register and her fine vocal control illustrated in a series of fast-moving passages of coloratura that impressed. In every case, the arias were shaped to reveal to the full emotional dimensions of the text; there was nothing superficial in her delivery.

Händel’s response to Bellezza’s rejection of a life devoted to pleasure was to compose two of the work’s better-known arias for Piacere, “Lascia la spina” and “Come nembo che fugge dal vento,” for which soprano Hilary Cronin, cast in the role, produced fine renditions. While the first was delivered with sensitive expressivity, replete with delicate contrasts in color, subtle ornamentation and pleasing legato singing, the latter allowed her to indulge in a more energetic and forceful expression of her feelings, with elongated passages of complex coloratura and strong emotional accenting of the line. Overall, apart from a little harshness in the voice, she created a convincing and impressive portrait of the more rebellious of the two sisters. She played up the role for all it was worth; she had all the necessary body language and facial expressions, to which she added the occasional pinch of humor.

I doubt that “Disinganno” has ever captured the attention of the audience to the extent managed by contralto Hilary Summers. She was always on the move, whether she was laying the table, dancing around the living room or singing while eating her Christmas dinner – which she achieved without any apparent discomfort – she hardly ever raised a smile throughout the whole show, such was her state of disillusionment. She possesses a colorful voice with beautiful, dark undertones that she used to enliven the vocal line. Her articulation is clear and precise and, apart from the occasional problem with her breathing, in which she could be heard taking in sufficient air, her delivery was firm and secure. Each of her arias was pleasingly delivered with attention given to its emotional content. Her third aria in Part one, “Crede l’uom ch’egli riposi,” in particular, showed off her vocal qualities to good effect, in which her subtle ornamentations, slow coloratura and colorful shadings impressed. She was also capable of more demonstrative singing, as exemplified by her demanding rendition of “Chi fu già del biondo crine.”

What a dull and boring father poor Bellezza had to suffer. Tenor Jorge Navarro Colorado’s portrait of Tempo was beautifully crafted to bring out his thoughtful, responsible and uninteresting demeanor. The fact that his children treated him like an old man seemed natural under the circumstances and made his smoking marijuana and dance routine all the more shocking and amusing. His first aria, “Urne voi, che racchiudete,” enabled him to show off the sensitivity with which he is able to craft the vocal line, in which his subtle ornamentation and attractive coloring caught the attention. Although he never allowed his emotions full rein, his use of well-placed emotional emphases, dynamic contrasts, and delicate phrasing ensured that his feelings were clearly displayed and were always informed by the text. There was nothing excessive in his performance; everything was successfully managed to bring out the beauty of the music.

In all respects, this was a thoughtful, dramatically insightful and musically strong presentation that overcame the static nature of the narrative with an imaginative staging.