Type: Gala Concert
Location: Theatre de l’Archeveche, France
Performed by: Aix‑en‑Provence Festival
Conductor: Emmanuelle Haïm
Soprano: Sabine Devieilhe
Year: 2016

Warlikowski is known for his reinterpretations and here he reimagines Handel’s youthful oratorio as a vivid allegory of beauty, pleasure, time, and enlightenment set within a stark glass cage. The allegorical story humanizes Beauty as a person who is torn between the tempting voice of Pleasure and the grim warnings of Time and Enlightenment. Onstage quartet Devieilhe (Bellezza), Franco Fagioli (Piacere), Sara Mingardo (Disinganno), and Michael Spyres (Tempo) delivered intense vocal duels.