Bournemouth SO/José Serebrier Naxos 8.572818-19 (2 CDs) ***

The complete ballet music from Verdi's operas (Otello, Macbeth, Jérusalem, Don Carlo, Aida, Il trovatore and I vespri siciliani) could be a really attractive proposition. That is, if it had less of the air of routine about it than it does in the hands of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under José Serebrier. The playing is neat and tidy, and Serebrier is not insensitive to the music's sometimes delectable scoring. But neither the orchestra nor conductor sound as if they have either Verdi or ballet in their blood. There's often a lack of lift and spring in the music-making and at times a four-squareness in the approach, which gives results that are not just charmless, but approaching po-faced. There's plenty of formulaic writing in this tuneful music and Serebrier hasn't surmounted the challenge of avoiding the effect of rum-ti- tum repetitiveness. url.ie/af6o