The trafficking in “Jewels,” Balanchine’s evening-length plotless ballet, is becoming increasingly competitive. Companies both large and small have mounted the showpiece, including Victoria Morgan’s Cincinnati Ballet, Edward Villela’s Miami City Ballet, and most recently, the Kirov. They bring their own emphasis to the work, cutting and faceting it to fit their training and skill. On Wednesday evening, the New York City Ballet performed its version to a sold-out house.

The well-rehearsed ensemble was worth their carat weight in Karinska’s costumes: tailored variants on classical and romantic tutus with richly decorated trim. Similarly, the complex patterns they created, highly wrought grooves and flanges, reflected the movements of the leading dancers. But tarnished phrases and occasional rough spots among the soloists made this “Jewels” hardly definitive.

Balanchine had choreographed dances inspired by the images of precious stones before (in his early ballet, “Le Palais de Cristal,” later renamed “Symphony in C”). But in “Jewels” he went beyond the mere shapes, using different composers to match different schools of classical dancing.

“Emeralds” takes place under a forest canopy in Peter Harvey’s new scenery. Two couples and a corps of 10 women lilt softly to the incidental music of Gabriel Faure.

Rachel Rutherford and Stephen Hanna coast to opposite corners of the stage, bend down, and scrape the ground. This is the romantic, sylph filled forest of Fokine.

On Wednesday night Ms. Rutherford appeared distracted in her opening passage, unable to shake a stiffness in her arms. The part of the first ballerina requires a lithe musicality that has enough authority behind it to distinguish it from the rest of the ensemble. Balanchine is mimicking the French danse d’ecole, expressive gesture is put ahead of precise combinations.

By contrast, a much more generous role is given to the second ballerina, performed by Jenifer Ringer, who rises on pointe, and kicks lightly one foot under the other, happily lost in a daydream. In her duet with James Fayette, she tugs him near, dipping into an arabesque by stages. Yet she remains only a fantasy woman. To a sensuous and perfumed melody, she evanesces across the length of the stage with prolonged bourrees.

Antonio Carmena as the male soloist performed his bravura steps with exuberance and accuracy. Entering in the pas de trois, he gallantly holds Amanda Edge and Carrie Lee Riggins on either side of him. He partners both as if they were the only one. Later, he summons the two couples together in a looping septet, before the men look off yearningly on one knee.

In “Rubies” Balanchine departed from his days in France with Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, and headed for the jazzy irreverence of the New World. Mr. Harvey’s set resembles a cavernous speakeasy. When we hear the thunderous opening chords of Stravisky’s “Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra,” Teresa Reichlin explodes with whiplash kicks, backward and forward. Male members of the ensemble run to assist her limbs, twisting her into devious attitudes. As mistress of ceremonies, she remains on top of the music throughout with her mischievous pivots and hyper extended tour jetes.

Miranda Weese, on the other hand was constantly behind the beat, especially during the opening percussive phrase of the second movement, when she swings her right leg in a grand battement en cloche, or a large kick like a bell. She stabbed her working leg under the knee of her supporting leg but without the aggressive self-possession necessary. In Edward Villela’s classic role, Damian Woetzel is playful and in cendiary by turns. He gallops like a thoroughbred, even jumps rope, believably having fun, but he can also spiral in the impressive sequence of half crouches as he heads for the wings.

“Diamonds,” set to Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 3 in D, is a tribute to the Russian Imperial Ballet of Petipa. The scenery is a floating ice palace. The cast features a central couple, performed by Philip Neal and Maria Kowroski, and a corps of 34 dancers. The duet, a nine-minute adagio, begins with a modified waltz. They walk toward each other with a regal crisscrossing step. As they come nearer, both turn away and continue to approach backward. Her control enchants in the long, floating lifts, and the repeated arabesques deepen each time. She spins herself around and leans on him, revolving slowly. She shares the poise and confidence of a figurehead.

“Diamonds” was inspired by the unicorn tapestries housed in Paris’s Cluny Museum, and the female lead originally was offered to Suzanne Farrell. Ms. Kowroski’s near perfect performance was worthy of the comparison, especially as the corps moved in for the closing polonaise. As Mr. Neal dips her forward in front of the swirling finale, she vigilantly changes direction with her extended arms while looking at the audience, sharing the poise and confidence of a figurehead.