Mozart’s opera, “Idomeneo,” has been in the news lately, but not because the Metropolitan Opera launched it last week. The Deutsche Oper Berlin withdrew a production out of prudence — out of a regard for physical safety. In this staging, the severed heads of

Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad appear. What have those men to do with “Idomeneo,” a tale of ancient Crete? Don’t ask silly questions: This is European opera — the same kind of opera that many critics clamor for here.

In any event, the Berlin company feared the violent reprisals of offended Christians and Buddhists. Oh, no, wait …

The Met’s production is the work of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, who died in 1988. He made his “Idomeneo” in 1982. It features what you might call a crumbling monumentality. Not crumbling, but still monumental, is music director James Levine, who conducted Thursday night.

His Mozart, I often say, is Beethoven-like: full, rounded, virile. I was once told of a man who didn’t care for Mozart operas.Asked why, he answered, “Too much plinky-plink.” There is no plinky-plink in Mr. Levine’s Mozart conducting, even when a harpsichord is prominent.

Conductor, orchestra, and singers were not always perfectly together Thursday night, and some of the tempos were slowish: Mr. Levine can get a touch languid. But you would probably not choose another to lead an “Idomeneo.”

The title role at the Met has been taken by several notable tenors, including the two most notable of our times: Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo. (One of them would not appreciate that order.) On this occasion, it was taken by Ben Heppner, the tenor who made his Metropolitan debut in this role in 1991.

Mr. Heppner is one of the great hit-or-miss singers in all of opera. You’re never quite sure who will show up: a straining, cracking mess, or a gleaming heldentenor.Thursday night, we got the latter (Mozart version). In many, many hearings, dating back many years, I have never heard Mr. Heppner better. He was in utter control of himself, and therefore of his part. He sang with huge assurance and conviction. So good was he, in fact, that you were reminded how he earned his reputation in the first place.

The soprano in the role of Ilia was Dorothea Röschmann, a Mozart singer for the ages, as I keep saying (because it’s true). In the first five minutes of the opera, she simply put on a clinic of Mozart singing. And she didn’t let up.

For one thing, she owns a well-nigh perfect Mozart instrument, in its weight, tone, and flexibility. And she governs it with a plain intelligence.The sense of line, the accents, the inflections, the psychology — it’s all there. Frankly, I have never heard Ms. Röschmann outside of Mozart operas, on two continents. But New Yorkers will have a chance to hear her in a lieder recital October 12 (Carnegie Hall).

The Met had a nice complement to Ms. Röschmann in the role of Idamante: the mezzosoprano Kristine Jepson. She has scored at the Met before — as Cherubino, for example (in “The Marriage of Figaro”), and also as Siébel (“Faust”). Actually, she looked rather like Octavian (“Der Rosenkavalier”) in Idamante’s silver getup.

And she sang with her accustomed beauty, accuracy, and ease. The high notes were particularly impressive, and the soft high notes the most impressive of all.Think how rich in mezzos we are, not least in Mozart mezzos: Susan Graham, Vesselina Kasarova, Elina Garanca. Kristine Jepson is almost redundant (but perfectly welcome nevertheless).

A third woman on the stage was the Russian soprano Olga Makarina, as Elettra. This character is very, very snaky, and she owns one of the great mad arias in the literature: “D’Oreste, d’Ajace.”Ms. Makarina was equal to her part, in that she was focused and scalding. Her voice is not big, and neither is it especially attractive.And, on this night, she had pitch troubles (flat). But she had musical and dramatic abilities to compensate.

I note, as a matter of interest, that Ms. Makarina took an uncommon high C at the end of “D’Oreste, d’Ajace.” And in that aria, Mr. Levine, conducting in the pit, was all glorious fury.

The tenor Jeffrey Francis made a solid debut as Arbace; he may well graduate to larger roles at the Met. And the company’s chorus was in excellent shape — a good thing, too, because the chorus is an important performer in “Idomeneo.” One C-minor piece almost lifted the roof off the house. It reminded me of Mr. Levine’s way with Mozart’s immortal mass in that key.

A caution: You have only three months left in this “Mozart year,”the 250th birthday.Will we be allowed to hear him next year? Just to be on the safe side, trot to this “Idomeneo,” or to the Met’s “Magic Flute,” which begins October 7.

Until December 9 (Lincoln Center, 212-721-6500).