Berlioz’s “Romeo et Juliette” should be right up James Levine’s alley. It is neither an opera nor a symphony, but a “dramatic symphony,” calling for three vocal soloists, a chamber chorus, a full chorus, and, of course, the orchestra. Mr. Levine is a famed operatic conductor and a famed symphonic conductor. How many versions of this particular Shakespeare tale – among others – has he conducted? As you know, Mr. Levine is now music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in addition to being music director of the Metropolitan Opera. He happens to love Berlioz – certainly champion him.

So, yes, “Romeo et Juliette” should be right up Mr. Levine’s alley. It was this work that he conducted with the BSO and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus at Carnegie Hall on Monday night. And, yes, it was pretty good – even very good, some of the time. But it was not Mr. Levine at his best. Sometimes you leave a performance of his and say, “That was well-nigh definitive. Yes, now I have that music straight in my mind.” This was not one of those occasions. But we have very high standards for James Levine, which he ought to appreciate, and almost certainly does.

At the beginning, the orchestra was not perfectly together, and neither did they have command of all the notes. The BSO was sounding pretty ragged for a Levine orchestra. You could hear the drama – “Romeo and Juliet” – in the playing, but you were far from gripped, or even engrossed. The chamber chorus was nicely balanced, although it did not offer great beauty of sound. Such beauty is not necessary, really.

The vocal solos are fairly brief – in one case, extremely brief – but Mr. Levine brought out some heavy hitters, starting with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, the mezzo-soprano. She is one of the great Berliozians of our day, as was amply proven when she appeared in “Les Troyens” at the Met two seasons ago. At the time, many of us applied the word “radiant” to her.

Ms. Hunt Lieberson is an adaptable singer, and she was not so much radiant in “Romeo et Juliette” as sensual, lush – utterly Berliozian, and superb. Her intonation was solid, and her understanding of this music was solid, too. Furthermore, she sings a worthy French – and what is it about this language that can make a line especially romantic, right off the bat?

The cello that accompanied her was off pitch some of the time, as other instruments in the BSO would be off pitch throughout the work. But little could spoil the Hunt Lieberson moment.

The tenor on hand to sing for a minute was Matthew Polenzani, whom we have called a “rising star” for several seasons, but whom we must stop calling that, for he is good and risen. On Monday night, Mr. Polenzani sounded almost impossibly youthful. For how long will he be able to come off that way? Long enough, no doubt. As with the mezzo-soprano, his French diction was fine. He may have appeared briefly, but he appeared well.

“Romeo et Juliette” at times seems proto-Wagner, or proto-“Tristan” in particular – Mr. Levine confirmed this impression. His Berlioz conducting is not unlike his Wagner conducting. Nothing is unintelligent, and the music is not allowed to devolve into soup – so much Romantic soup. And yet, for portions of this performance, Mr. Levine seemed to be on autopilot, seemed to be – can it be? – merely beating time. Many phrases, he could have caressed more. And the orchestra’s technical sloppiness was disturbing: Entrances were awful, and this was especially unhappy in the pizzicato instances.

If this “dramatic symphony” has a hit, it is the “Queen Mab” Scherzo, and this was less than gossamer, less than ethereal, less than precise. What it had going for it was that it was not prissy.

Matters much improved after intermission, when Mr. Levine resumed with Juliet’s Funeral Procession. This was suitably lamentoso; it was stately, dignified, and tender at the same time. Mr. Levine achieved a lovely balance between chorus (full chorus) and orchestra. As the symphony continued, the drama became all the more vivid, and the characteristic Levine discipline was in evidence, along with musical engagement.

The evening’s bass-baritone was Julien Robbins, and his voice was not inferior – that is, not inferior to those of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Matthew Polenzani, which is saying something. He did his Friar Laurence bit with tremendous authority, although he lapsed into some stiffness.

No, this was not Mr. Levine’s best reading – but it was good enough. And this performance had the effect of making me, for one, all the more appreciative of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. I mean, this is only an opera orchestra – a pathetic creature! And, thanks to 30 years under Mr. Levine, it can sometimes play rings around the mighty and venerable Boston Symphony Orchestra. “Ring”s, too.