Rustioni was again the conductor, substituting for Yannick Nezet-Séguin, who pulled out of the assignment to recoup after what has to have been a demanding stretch. Between the endless fruitless distractions for the eye and the prevailingly dim stage-to-ear connection, I had to force attention to the orchestra. The tempi seemed to me proportionate, and the pace didn’t lag. For both Nozze and Rigoletto, Rustioni had the lower strings to his left, everything else to his right, which to my ear did not favor the spatial balances. (N.: I was seated to auditorium right for both performances.) In the far left corner of the pit, a nominal continuo duo (fortepiano and cello) cowered, to absolutely no effect—a gentle chord here, a meek cadence there—thus contributing to the general throwaway of the recitatives, which until the ensemble finales get going carry the plot. If that’s all that’s going to be done with the continuo, bring back the pianoforte.

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NEXT TIME: The Met’s new production of Don Carlos, note-complete and in its original language, French, beckons, and beyond there are Ariadne, Lucia, and the above-mentioned Turandot re-visit. Before any of that yawns a company hiatus for almost all of February. So for Friday, Feb. 25, I will be exploring some of the performances that in the past have formed our expectations for one or another of the great repertory works the Met is offering this season. I think that might be Le Nozze di Figaro.

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