This is all the more frustrating because the musical performance was mostly excellent and might have been extraordinary. Mr. Levine drew supple and radiant playing from the Met orchestra. Somber passages had breadth and dignity; comic bits were frothy and articulate. In her Met debut the Slovak soprano Lubica Vargicova dispatched the Queen of the Night's devilish coloratura with fearless attack, bright tone and impressive accuracy. She looked a sight in her costume, though, like some moth queen with multiple wings manipulated by a roster of assistants.