Long before his heyday in London, Georg Frideric Handel spent a fertile spell in Rome. The action of this, his first oratorio, revolves around the allegorical characters of Pleasure, Deception, Time, and Beauty. The first violin part was written for none other than the incomparable Arcangelo Corelli, and Handel himself was heard on the organ. As you’ll suspect, there’s not much to the drama. Yet the 22-year-old composer lavished such invention on the score that he later stole from it on at least 30 occasions. The current production is in the hands of the Japanese choreographer Saburo Teshigawara, directing and designing in tandem with his longtime creative partner Rihoko Sato. The Baroque specialist Andrea Marcon conducts the La Fenice Orchestra. —Matthew Gurewitsch