SAINT-SAENS: “Samson et Dalila.” Christa Ludwig, James King, Bernd Weikl; Chorus of the Bavarian Radio and Munich Radio Orchestra conducted by Giuseppe Patane. Eurodisc 7793-2-RG (two compact discs).

In Patane’s lackluster approach, Saint-Saens’ most familiar opera still sounds like an oratorio with moving parts. Neither sufficiently suave nor enjoyably vulgar, the conductor offers little assistance to a mismatched, unidiomatic international cast. Even in 1973, when the recording was made, Ludwig sounded hollow at the bottom, and a voice never noted for pure sensuality makes rough going of Delilah’s lush musical line. King’s reliable, stolid Samson misses Old Testament fervor and even a dram of poetry. Originally issued on RCA, the compact disc remastering is excessively reverberant.