** FALLA: “Noches en los jardines de Espan~a”; “El sombrero de tres picos” Jennifer Larmore, mezzo-soprano; Chicago Symphony, Placido Domingo, conductor; Daniel Barenboim, conductor and pianist; Teldec

Domingo serves as a heavy-handed and fastidiously cautious conductor in “Noches en los jardines de Espan~a.” The results are inevitably prosaic. While more airy phrasing and elastic line emerge with Barenboim’s entrance as the solo pianist, he soon gets boxed in by the unimaginative conducting. These are hardly delicate and heady nights in magical Spanish gardens.

Things improve only a little when Barenboim takes up the baton in “El sombrero de tres picos” (complete). Falla’s sparkling score sounds more weighty and Germanic than vivid and Spanish. Many opportunities for creating a sense of scene and character are lost. As if trying to counterbalance the overall dullness, Larmore becomes a fervent, over-the-top soloist in the first of her two brief opportunities. Placed at a distance for the second, she sounds more luscious and rich.

Billed as a live recording, it offers crystal-clear sound. But the translations need better proofreading.