More music criticism, since Tax Court is closed tomorrow, and I won’t recycle Harry Golden’s “A Klug Zu Columbus’n” story yet again.

Nadine Sierra was in top form last night at the Met as Amina in Vincenzo Bellini’s La Sonnambula, and Ricardo Frizza conducted a taut, gripping performance. I am a Sierra fan, and she gave an incandescent performance.

The big hit came from Lawrence Brownlee’s brilliant performance as Elvino, coming in relief of Xabier Anduaga. The cause of the call to the bullpen is a puzzlement, but the audience was not disappointed. Brownlee and Sierra kept the tension, both dramatic and musical, despite one of the silliest plots in opera, which has no scarcity of unbelievable stories beautifully sung.

I must mention Deborah Nansteel’s strong performance as Amina’s foster mother Teresa. Sydney Mancasola was a strong Lisa, making the most of a cardboard character.

The casting last night was truly splendid, true bel canto and not the unfortunately too prevalent con belto.

The singers were so good I even forgot to loathe the minimalist sets and the tacky bed-in-the-air stunt. While Niara Hardister danced well, her talents would be best employed somewhere else. Alexander Vinogradov sang so well at stage level that I forgive the cutesy ladder-climbing stunt. Bellini goes better without acrobatics.