Dance of the Hours: Ballet Favourites from Opera. Decca 289 458 229-2.(Review)

Dance of the Hours: Ballet Favourites from Opera. Decca 289 458 229-2.

I love compilations of older recordings. You never know what you're going to find, especially on this disc of ballet music from operas featuring some of Decca's biggest-name conductors. The audio, recorded between 1962 and 1988 varies, of course, but most of it is good and some of it is terrific.

The highlight of the disc is the title tune, "The Dance of the Hours" from Ponchielli's La Gioconda. Made digitally in 1980, it's taken at a healthy clip by Bruno Bartoletti and the National Philharmonic Orchestra. Indeed, the gait is so quick the hours seem to literally fly by. But the best part is the sound. It's superbly translucent and open. This is due in part to a general absence of bass resonance, but, in fact, there's a general absence of bass, too, a common affliction of all of the pieces on the program. Nonetheless, it's clear, clean, beautiful sound and a joy to listen to.

The next two pieces are Saint-Saens' "Air et danse -- Bacchanale" from Samson and Delila and the ballet music from Gounod's Faust, both played by Charles Dutoit and his Montreal Symphony Orchestra. As always from this source, the performances are urbane and velvety smooth, and the sound, from 1987 and 1983 respectively, is warm and ambient. Although I recognize the Dutoit sound as the more natural, I preferred the clearer sound from Bartoletti. Next up are the only two ...