The rule at the Metropolitan Opera seems to be, “Whatever Placido wants, Placido gets.” It has been that way for many years. The rule – if it is a rule – is a good one: The opera-going public has been the beneficiary. Three seasons ago, Mr. Domingo brought “Sly” to the Met, in a production fashioned by his wife, Marta. “Sly” is an opera by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, and it’s not an immortal one, but they don’t all have to be, and “Sly” proved worth knowing.

On Friday night, Mr. Domingo starred in Alfano’s “Cyrano de Bergerac,” which was receiving its U.S. premiere. It, too, is worth knowing, and has provided Mr. Domingo – and others – a bona fide hit.

Franco Alfano is best known for completing “Turandot,” for the dead Puccini. He set Edmond Rostand’s famous play – about the long-nosed, literary lover, or would-be lover – in the mid-1930s. The libretto is French, and the score is late-Romantic, you might say. It is somewhat reminiscent of Zemlinsky, Korngold, and that school. We hear some fine love melodies, and are sprinkled with a kind of fairy dust. The opera certainly lucked out on Friday night: It would be hard to imagine a stronger performance.

For at least ten years, I have referred to Placido Domingo as “the ageless Spaniard,” and I am not quite prepared to give up the phrase. Did he sound exactly as he did? No, but he is still recognizably himself, very much Domingo. He made a big, glorious opera-star entrance, and he had a superb death scene (i.e., a big, glorious opera-star exit). The extended nose he was wearing did his voice no harm. He was gleaming, creamy, lyrical, as always. He did some sliding around, vocally, but that is typical, too. He summoned great strength for the end of the opera, but he really hadn’t been short of it. This is an immensely savvy singer, whose technique is built for life. He gets maximum use of his resources.

We were reminded, too, that Mr. Domingo is one of the great singing actors in history. But I learned something about him, distressing to find out: He throws like a girl. He did so as he tossed a few pebbles at Roxane’s window. Say it ain’t so, Placido! But nothing can dent his reputation for virility, and overall excellence.

The Met has a co-production, with Covent Garden, and it is the work of Francesca Zambello. Peter J. Davison designed the sets, Anita Yavich the costumes. The production is a visual treat – plenty sumptuous – but not overloaded. It is clean, but not spare; it is grand, but not cluttered. Act II, Scene 1 boasts a great-looking bakery, more like a bakery workshop. Throughout the show, everyone is where he needs to be, making sense, theatrically. Christian’s slow walk up the ladder to Roxane’s window is moving, and devastating, for Cyrano. The horror of war is suggested admirably. The final act, in the garden of a nunnery, is touching, having a mixture of earthliness and ethereality. The prior ambush of Cyrano is a slow, arty pantomime, and will not be to everyone’s taste, but what can be?

Placido Domingo had splendid company on that stage. In the role of Roxane – one of the world’s most demanding girlfriends – was Sondra Radvanovsky, the soprano from Illinois. She has had a big season at the Met: appearing as Elena in Verdi’s “Vespri Siciliani”; appearing as Elisabetta in another Verdi opera, “Don Carlo”; and now in “Cyrano de Bergerac.” She was at the top of her game, the voice huge, but radiant, beautiful – and on pitch. Ms. Radvanovsky’s high notes were thrilling, as was her singing at large. The sound has a bit of Callas in it. So does the “bearing” of that sound, if you will.

The nostalgists say that there’s no one around today, but nostalgists of the future will say, “Oh, if only I could have heard Sondra Radvanovsky – with Domingo! – in that premiere of ‘Cyrano’!”

Christian, Cyrano’s mouthpiece, was Raymond Very, an American tenor, and he acquitted himself well. Mr. Domingo tended to have the best lines, but the “second” tenor is not bereft of material in this opera. Perhaps Mr. Very will one day sing the title role himself, if the opera catches on.

The English baritone Anthony Michaels-Moore made a sturdy De Guiche, and Roberto de Candia, an Italian baritone, made a similarly able Ragueneau. The young soprano Jennifer Check was Ragueneau’s wife, hurling out that tremendous voice of hers – it will be interesting to see her graduate to larger roles. And the veteran mezzo Sheila Nadler did a solid turn as Roxane’s governess.

Leading all this in the pit was the Italian conductor Marco Armiliato, who was barely noticeable – which is a compliment of a high order. He was alert, sensitive, musical, logical – you could forget about him. The orchestra sounded marvelous, with lovely, French-ish textures, but nothing prissy. Among the standout solo instruments were the cello and the clarinet. Alfano is generous with his opportunities, both to singers and to instrumentalists.

The Cyrano story is a powerful one, and, in the opera house, it does not fail to achieve its effects. Placido Domingo, and the Met, have done us all a favor. What other forgotten tenor vehicles might we see?

***

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra took up residence in Carnegie Hall, with three concerts, Friday through Sunday. Leading them was their music director, Daniel Barenboim – for the first and third concerts. That initial program offered the inspired combination of Bach and Mahler: the former’s Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, and the latter’s Ninth Symphony. The final program purveyed Wagner (the Prelude to Act I of “Parsifal”), Boulez (“Notations”), and Beethoven (the Seventh).

In the middle program, on Saturday night, Mr. Barenboim relinquished the baton to Pierre Boulez himself, and acted as piano soloist – for an all-Bartok program. Mr. Boulez is principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He and Mr. Barenboim have had a long, happy collaboration. As Mr. Barenboim remarked in some program notes, the two of them first performed together in 1964, when the pianist was 22 years old – the concerto was Bartok’s No. 1. And they each made their CSO debut together, in 1969 – again, the concerto was Bartok’s No. 1. And that is what they performed at Carnegie Hall on Saturday night.

First, however, Mr. Boulez and the orchestra presented some early Bartok, the Four Pieces for Orchestra, written in 1912. Mr. Boulez knows this score well, and enjoys advocating it. He led it with wisdom, wit, and persuasiveness.

The first of the four pieces is marked Preludio, and it was beautifully layered. The CSO’s sound, too, was notably beautiful. All major orchestras sound wonderful in Carnegie Hall, right? Perhaps, but some still sound better than others. The current CSO is both muscular and beautiful.

The second of the Four Pieces, the Scherzo, featured some very precise, clear brass playing: If you can’t turn to the Chicagoans for brass playing, where can you turn? Mr. Boulez propelled the Scherzo without going haywire. He is very good at keeping turmoil below the surface – although Bartok’s turmoil appropriately bubbled up now and then.

Next comes an Intermezzo, followed by a Funeral March, which is not an obvious funeral march, but which carries a spooky inevitability nonetheless. Mr. Boulez brought this off in exemplary fashion. He is not getting any dumber, Pierre Boulez, on the podium.

Then it was time for Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 1 – a work that lends itself to Mr. Barenboim’s pianistic tendencies. He was blunt, aggressive, free wheeling. I wouldn’t recommend playing “The Well-Tempered Clavier” this way, but Mr. Barenboim was superb here. He and his conductor clicked all through the concerto.

The first movement was spunky, bold – and very accurate. Mr. Barenboim had evidently been practicing. In the second movement, he employed that big fat tone that he liked in Artur Rubinstein – and the clarinetist John Bruce Yeh contributed a really beautiful solo.

In the closing movement, we again saw Mr. Boulez’s gift for propulsion – and the pianist was propelling right alongside him. What is undeniable about Mr. Barenboim, whatever we may think of him, is his enthusiasm for music. This enthusiasm was joyously apparent on Saturday night. You don’t have to play the Piano Concerto No. 1 quite as pulverizingly as he did, but you can, and Mr. Barenboim, with his friend, Mr. Boulez, gave us some memorable Bartok.

The concert concluded with one of the all-time showpieces for orchestra, the Concerto for Orchestra. As often as we hear this work, could we bear to sit through it again? Yes, indeed – the Chicagoans played freshly, agreeably. That opening movement was sweeping and unified. And once more we heard that special CSO sound: burly yet beautiful. Mr. Boulez’s approach was somewhat measured – mature, you might say – but far from boring. He seems to know that hyperactivity itself can be boring.

The second movement – Allegro scherzando – was a bit of a surprise: It was jauntier, more chipper, than one normally hears it. Swingier. This was very effective too, and just a little affected (for Pierre Boulez). The conductor’s ritards were rather exaggerated – again, unexpected (but not unwelcome).

The weakest conducting of the entire evening came in the third movement, the Elegy, which did not have its involving power, its grabbing arc. It was rather chopped up. But the fourth movement was duly wacky and relieving, with its “Merry Widow” theme coming out of nowhere. And the Finale was the virtuosic thrill it should have been. The CSO brass started this movement not so spiffily, but they quickly got it together, joining their colleagues for a tight, Bartokian ride.

A most gratifying concert.

“Cyrano de Bergerac” will be performed again May 17 & 20 at 8 p.m. (Lincoln Center, 212-362-6000).