The Metropolitan Opera’s introduction of Sunday matinees this season already seems to be popular with audiences. The company reports that, so far, single-ticket sales for these matinees have been higher than those for performances on any other day of the week. And the house looked nearly full on Sunday for Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice.”

Yet the Met has long been used to getting a welcome day off after the heavy lift of two performances every Saturday. Under the new schedule, the company presented four operas from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon — which may be why this revival of Mark Morris’s 2007 choreographed “Orfeo” took a while to gain energy and focus.

The excellent British conductor Mark Wigglesworth, best known for his work with the English National Opera in London, drew out the warmth and refinement of Gluck’s score. But the Met Orchestra’s playing lacked precision and crispness, especially during the bustling overture, which sounded somewhat wan and limp.

The mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, who last appeared at the Met this year as a gripping Fricka in Wagner’s “Ring,” sang her first Orfeo (as well as her first trouser role and first title role, as she playfully pointed out on Twitter). Her plush, melting voice was ideal for the music. But her singing, especially in the opening scenes, lacked bite and intensity.