A cast judiciously combining veterans and debutantes gave New York City Ballet’s season-opening “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” a unique energy on Tuesday night. A highlight of the evening was a somewhat astonishing performance in the role of Titania by the veteran Darci Kistler, who sailed on a tide of opening-night adrenaline to dispel any question of age or infirmity.

Ms. Kistler’s upper body seemed unconstrained, and, more remarkably, her legs moved with ease, plasticity, and sweep. When she had to scale back slightly the dimensions of a movement, she took care to compensate with meticulous details. She knew when to conserve and when to unleash full power, as when she traveled downstage in a dizzying unspooling of chaine turns. Ms. Kistler was formidably willful in her disputes with Oberon, meltingly tender with her adored donkey.

Ms. Kistler also knows how to make an exit: As she led Bottom offstage, she conveyed the impression of ascending toward an ecstatic consummation. When she and Oberon exited together after their reconciliation at the end of Act I, she suggested that many adventures lay ahead for this contentious yet unquestionably united couple.

Although Oberon is her consort and primary partner, Titania is not one to deny herself the prerogatives of sovereignty. George Balanchine devised a cavalier for Titania to dally with in her bower, who was danced ably by Charles Askegard.

Benjamin Millepied was originally scheduled to dance Oberon, but he was replaced by Joaquin De Luz. Opposite Ms. Kistler, Mr. De Luz was outflanked; he was shorter than her even when he stood on a high releve. There is a definite case to be made for a fairy king and queen being small, and thus all the more removed from temporal reality, as they are so often depicted in literature. But they are meant to be equal adversaries.

Here, Ms. Kistler’s height – augmented by her headdress – made her needlessly dominant. Mr. De Luz danced his solo well, but flagged a bit toward the end. He seemed to find his footing during his reappearance with Ms. Kistler in the Act II divertissement, demonstrating a more confident projection of nobility than in the first act.

In Tuesday’s edition of The New York Sun, I wrote about Balanchine’s conception of Puck as rooted in ballet’s demi-caractere virtuoso mode. What’s also clear is that the role has become more demi-caractere with the years, defined by dancers ever shorter, more agile, and more zany. The role’s possibilities are thereby needlessly reduced. Arthur Mitchell, who created the role in 1962, was glamorous and mysterious as well, although it’s possible that before Mr. Mitchell retired a half-decade later, he had also made the role cuter. As envisioned today at NYCB, Puck often seems like a cartoon take on Ganymede.

Daniel Ulbricht, who danced Puck on Tuesday night, both conformed to and superseded the current outlines of the role. He is very short, and he appeared mindful that overkill makes a short dancer look shorter and a little defensive. He demonstrated presence and authority as well as tremendous speed and elevation, his legs pummeling furiously in the air during the role’s choreographic signature. In the lovely tableau Balanchine devised for Puck and the butterflies to Mendelssohn’s famous chords, Mr. Ulbricht evoked pastoral mystery.

Sterling Hyltin brought out beautifully the romantic character of the lead butterfly, her arms drifting slowly upward and then wafting back down to her sides. As Hippolyta, Teresa Reichlen’s rangy limbs moved expansively but not carelessly. Ms. Reichlen ran into trouble with her fouettes during the churning Act I solo, but she still managed to finish them musically. In the Act II divertissement, she shed her martial air to become courtly and gracious.

Rebecca Krohn made her debut as Helena. Ms. Krohn could have made more of her first melancholy passage across the stage, but she plunged fullbore into her struggles with Jason Fowler’s Demetrius. Jennie Somogyi’s debut as Hermia was also good.

The Act II adagio was danced by Wendy Whelan and Nikolai Hubbe. Mr. Hubbe is operating within a tight range these days, but he and Ms. Whelan were able to impart solicitude and grandeur to their duet. Ms. Whelan was not quite at her best but highly rewarding nevertheless. Together, Ms. Whelan and Mr. Hubbe illustrated that this culminating duet summarizes all the spellbound ardor of the enchanted alliances and misalliances.

Until May 2 (Lincoln Center, 212-870-5570).