The story of the innocent Susanna--whose nude bathing in a stream so excited two elders in her community that they charged her with all sorts of dirty things--is from the Apocrypha. Near the story"s close, the young Israelite Daniel, clearly a budding lawyer, disproves the elders" claims by having each explain certain details without the other in the room. (In the Carlisle Floyd version, there"s a twist, and the ending is horrifyingly different.) The story, as Handel and his unknown librettist tell it, takes more than two and a half hours. What we get in place of nail-biting drama is a marvelous portrait of the chaste Susanna, her trusting husband, Joacim, and the lascivious elders. There"s also a great concentration on the plot"s rural setting. Arias are filled with nature--Handel offers us a lovely pastoral setting, with a could-be-tragic story at its core; but neither Nature nor Susanna"s good nature wind up sullied. This is a beautiful performance of the work, led by Peter Neumann with tenderness and, when required, with great verve. Neumann makes only a few cuts, equaling about 10 minutes and approved by Handel for the work"s 1759 revival. Nicholas McGegan"s account on Harmonia Mundi is note-complete and just as handsomely played. His Susanna, Lorraine Hunt, wins over this set"s Elisabeth von Magnus, but only by a hair; our present Joacim, Syste Buwalda, however, is better than McGegan"s Drew Minter. And Neumann"s two elders are even nastier than McGegan"s. It"s a really close call--either performance of this attractive work is to be recommended. --Robert Levine