ARIAS, DUETS AND OVERTURES BY VERDI, DONIZETTI, ROSSINI, GOUNOD, MOZART AND LEHAR. Kathleen Battle, soprano; Placido Domingo, tenor; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra conducted by James Levine. Deutsche Grammophon 427 686-2 (compact disc).

The occasion for this potpourri concert, the Met’s spring 1988 visit to Japan, summoned superlative sonics in Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan and gleaming performances from all participants. Domingo’s attempts to fill Don Giovanni’s baritonal shoes remain as bewildering as ever, but he and Battle infuse duets from “La Traviata,” “L’Elisir d’Amore,” “The Merry Widow” and “Romeo et Juliette” with considerable poise and style. Levine’s traversals of the overtures to “La Forza del Destino” and “L’Italiana in Algeri” are spit-and-polish affairs, and the audience reaction is understandably vociferous.