The choir provided power when it was called for, particularly in an ebullient "Hallelujah" chorus, but made its strongest impressions with its fine blend and sensitive shading.
Mr. Mead made an equally strong impression with his luminous voice, impeccable control and expressive phrasing.
As Fernando, Rodrigo's general, the countertenor Daniel Bubeck made a strong impression with his distinctive, honeyed timbre and secure technique.
The lesser-known Antonio del Castillo y Saavedra makes an equally strong impression with four sketches of peasant men, done with a reed pen made from an Andalusian plant.
(He did not make a similarly strong impression with his lumbering production of Verdi's "Attila" last season for his debut at the Metropolitan Opera).
The rapidly emerging British composer Tom Coult (b1988), a student of George Benjamin, left a strong impression with Spirit of the Staircase (2016) played for the first time.
Pablo Heras-Casado opened his Mostly Mozart program at Avery Fisher Hall on Tuesday evening with the Stravinsky and made a strong impression with the incisiveness of his reading and with his graceful conducting gestures.
Michael Brandenburg, a 26-year-old tenor who also took a top prize, made a strong impression with his impassioned renditions of his two selections, including Lenski's aria from Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin".
And Dennis M. Walcott, the longtime deputy mayor who replaced Ms. Black as chancellor, has not yet made a strong impression, with 53 percent of those polled having no opinion on his performance.
After making a strong impression with critics as the ship's stoker in "Titanic," Mr. James, too, moved up a notch, receiving offers to read for a slew of musicals.
