Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno is a landmark in baroque music. It is Handel’s first oratorio, product of his astonishing flowering in Italy in his early twenties, suffused with the youthful vigour and virtuosity of his early works. The libretto, by the well-connected Benedetto Pamphili, is a highly crafted composition drawing on a rich mix of artistic forebears. It is both moral-religious allegory dramatized in music, and a pattern book of human psychology. This is the second disc for Hyperion from Academia Montis Regalis, who drew great acclaim for their recording of Stradella’s San Giovanni Battista.