Passionate Freudian guilt is the subject of Arnold Schonberg’s short opera “Erwartung.” Spoken in pitch rather than sung, this onecharacter, one-act drama is part of the melodrama tradition, a body of work still familiar in the early years of the 20th century but virtually unknown today.

A close listening to Schonberg’s wild, shuddering polytonal score reveals its melding of basic Romanticism with “The Interpretation of Dreams.” To pull it off, one needs a singer of supreme ability and a conductor who is not afraid to make his forces sound surreal.

In 1989, Jessye Norman scored a real triumph at the Met under James Levine’s courageous leadership. In those days, the only soprano who could match Ms. Norman’s portrayal was Anja Silja, who recorded a superb realization with her husband, Christoph von Dohnanyi, conducting. On Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Hall, Maestro Levine and his band of merry pranksters joined forces with Ms. Silja for a concert version of the piece.

Mr. Levine is the acknowledged master of this difficult score and thor oughly prepared his ensemble for the cornucopia of orchestral colors and the shimmering range of instrumental textures that are the heart of this complex music. The constant changes of speed – Robert Craft points out that there are 111 tempo markings in only 427 measures of music – alone would challenge the most elite of performing groups.

The timbral combinations and attention to detail were instantly earcatching, and the duet between celesta and solo violin produced exquisite tone painting. In fact, I have never heard this assemblage sound better.

A radiant Ms. Silja projected an air of self-confidence rare for this conflicted heroine. Her characterization was unusual for this piece; in her mind she is completely guilty. There is no sense of hesitancy or innocence, no possibility that the murder in question is but a hallucination. Ms. Silja intoned in a quicksilver manner, spinning gold one moment and harsh horror the next. She opted to sing a good deal of the phrases that might otherwise have been spoken, and always exhibited fine control of pitch. Further, her German diction was flawless, allowing her to be very emotive, even expressionistic, in her recited lines.

There were passages where Ms. Silja bordered on the inaudible, but these problems are insoluble on a con cert stage with a close-to-100-piece orchestra directly behind her. When Ms. Norman – with a much smaller voice – sang the part at the Met, the orchestra was, of course, in the pit. Ms. Silja was undaunted by any technical hurdles and impressed as much with her vocal power as with her kaleidoscopic palette. Four very hearty curtain calls reaffirmed the crowd’s appreciation.

Maestro Levine is concentrating on this under-heralded composer for the next two seasons, including all-Schonberg nights at Symphony Hall in Boston. It should be very interesting to find out how many tickets are sold for these events, as Isaac Stern Auditorium was not completely full Sunday afternoon. In early March, the BSO and Mr. Levine will present Schonberg’s Chamber Symphony as well as Beethoven’s Ninth here at Carnegie Hall.

After the subtleties of the Schon berg, Stravinsky’s “Le Sacre du printemps” can sound a lot like hackwork, but Mr. Levine and his troops delivered a solid performance. Perhaps stolid would be a better word, as this reading was unrelenting in its rhythmical correctness, a bit Prussian in character. I imagine this is how Kurt Masur would lead the piece. Everything was careful, accurate, and a bit dull.

Slow and steady doesn’t necessarily win the race in Stravinsky, but Mr. Levine should be credited with a supremely precise realization. The Met orchestra proved it could play loudly – very loudly – and still keep its proper intonational balance.

Much more satisfying was the first piece on the program, the suite from the ballet “The Miraculous Mandarin” by Bela Bartok. Here the orchestra really shone.

This incredibly exciting and challenging music grows from the salacious plot involving drugs, mysterious Orientals, and a whorehouse. The strings really dug in to this rhythmic tour de force, and the brass, especially the trombones, performed brilliantly. Mr. Levine turned the intensity level way up and set the metronome to Mach 3. The result was truly thrilling music-making. What else would you expect from the greatest opera orchestra in the world?