ONE of this Metropolitan Opera season’s backstage crises came when Ileana Cotrubas backed out of the new production of ”La Traviata” after deciding she could not agree to John Dexter’s plan for restaging the Verdi classic. The soprano backed in again, however, when the opera was turned over to Colin Graham, a director with whom Miss Cotrubas found it possible to agree. Without attempting to decide who was right in the Cotrubas-Dexter disagreement, it can be noted that Tuesday night’s premiere of ”La Traviata” turned out to be one of this strike-shortened season’s pure triumphs.

It is unlikely that there is a better Violetta now on the world’s stages than Ileana Cotrubas. In her first Metropolitan appearance as the pathetic courtesan, she gave a transfixing performance. A singing actress of great imagination and temperament, she was able to exploit the full range of emotions in her first-act scene, and unless a Violetta does that the jig is up. From the first puzzled and tentative notes of ”e strano” straight through to the almost delirious brilliance of ”sempre libera” she drew one long, unerring curve of vocal and dramatic excitement. She was not, like some Violettas, a case of conspicuous consumption throughout the night, hacking and wheezing incessantly. She coughed a little and fainted when necessary, and generally played on our sympathy like a virtuoso.

In every way, Placido Domingo made an ideal Alfredo for such a Violetta. Considerably slimmer than he was when he last appeared at the Metropolitan and shorn of his beard, Mr. Domingo looked as young and handsome as all Alfredos ought to look, and his remarkable tenor voice rang easily through the house. Best of all, Mr. Domingo played to his Violetta’s strengths rather than competing with her in the great tenor tradition. Add to these two front-rank performances the splendidly vocalized Elder Germont of Cornell MacNeil and it became a night that no listener disenchanted by opera’s mediocrities should have missed. Mr. MacNeil phrased rather more woodenly than his colleagues, but his portrayal was dignified and avoided melodramatic excesses.

The production, largely conventional in its staging and in its Tanya Moiseiwitsch sets and costumes, provided a good deal of musical interest beyond the superb singing of the principals. James Levine, conducting his first Metropolitan ”La Traviata,” restored much traditionally cut music, including Alfredo’s second aria in the country-house scene (”O mio rimorso”) and the elder Germont’s cabaletta at the end of the same scene (this one is virtually never done, probably because it sounds rather giddy for so sober a moment). In another bow to authenticity, the production divides into the three acts that Verdi specified, rather than the four that result from the traditional splitting of Act II. The scenery is naturalistic and large-scale, ranging from a kind of Moorish kitsch in the ballroom to single-room-occupancy austerity in the final scene.

Miss Cotrubas did not deviate far from familiar interpretations of the title role. In her dying hour, Violetta read Alfredo’s letter in the accepted way, lifting her eyes when halfway through and reciting the rest by heart. Somewhat obviously, she dressed in white for the relatively gay first act, black for the sadder scene at Flora’s party. In fact, the whole evening struck an old-fashioned note that seemed entirely compatible with this opera’s mid-19th-century setting. Visually it should wear well, and all it needs is singing of the quality that Miss Cotrubas and Mr. Domingo lavished on it this time.

Mr. Levine’s contribution to the night’s success, of course, was enormous. He conducted the two famous preludes with a fine blend of ardor and precision. While he did not try to rush the singers past their big moments, he nonetheless kept the momentum from start to finish. ”La Traviata” is not the most difficult opera for a conductor to beat his way through, since every orchestra member could play it backwards in his sleep, but making the score cohere as drama and as a memorable musical experience is by no means simple.  Mr. Levine managed well on both counts.

Considering what usually happens in ”La Traviata” ballets, Zachary Solov’s choreography for the Spanish dancers turned out to be bright, inventive and altogether snappy. In fact, a grand night at the opera all around. The Cast LA TRAVIATA, opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, text by Francesco Maria Piave, after Alexandre Dumas’s play ”La Dame aux Camelias. Conducted by James Levine. Production by Colin Graham. Sets and costumes designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch.  Lighting designed by Gil Wechsler. Choreography by Zachary Solov. Presented by the Metropolitan Opera.  Violetta …………………………Ileana Cotrubas Alfredo ………………………….Placido Domingo Germont ………………………….Cornell MacNeil Flora ……………………………….Ariel Bybee Annina ………………………….Geraldine Decker Gastone ……………………………..Dana Talley Douphol ………………………….John Darrenkamp d’Obigny ………………………….Julien Robbins Grenville ………………………….William Fleck Giuseppe ……………………………John Hanriot Messenger ……………………………Donald Peck