You have to admire the Met’s intrepid cast, chorus and orchestra for rallying on Wednesday. Mr. Lucic, a major baritone, sang Macbeth when the Met introduced Adrian Noble’s gripping production in 2007. He returned for a revival in 2014, in which Anna Netrebko sang her first Lady Macbeth at the house, a thrilling performance and another milestone in her career. Pairing two superstars — Ms. Netrebko and Mr. Domingo — had been the selling point of this latest revival. Instead, the reunited Ms. Netrebko and Mr. Lucic could draw upon their past experience together.

Still, the stress of an 11th-hour upheaval may have had an effect: There was a feeling of concerted effort, as if an entire company of dedicated artists were digging in as best it could, despite the energetic and articulate playing the conductor Marco Armiliato drew from the orchestra.

That Mr. Domingo, 78, prolonged his career for a decade by remaking himself into a baritone was, depending on your perspective, a remarkable achievement or an act of self-indulgence. Yet, though his voice often sounded a little leathery and worn in baritone roles, he usually compensated with intensity and charisma.

Mr. Lucic has the advantage of being a true baritone. On Wednesday, as always, his singing was warm, mellow and full-bodied without being forced. He brought melting legato phrasing to lyrical passages. His sound may lack some Italianate richness, and his tone tends to be focused, with minimal vibrato. This can expose moments of faulty pitch, which happened on Wednesday — especially during his final scene, when Macbeth, in a grim soliloquy, realizes that he is about to be vanquished for his murderous ambition. Yet, during much of the evening, especially in Macbeth’s brooding moments, he sang with grave beauty and affecting emotional vulnerability.

Ms. Netrebko, by contrast, was afire with intensity as the calculating Lady Macbeth. That she seized the stage from Mr. Lucic actually worked dramatically, since it is Lady Macbeth who pushes her husband to embrace his destiny and murder his way to the throne.

As is often the case with Ms. Netrebko, she took some time to warm up. But from her first scene, in which she reads aloud Macbeth’s letter explaining the mysterious prophesies of the witches, Ms. Netrebko sang with a mesmerizing blend of steely resolve and seductive allure. And during the tour de force sleepwalking scene — Lady Macbeth’s final moments, when she imagines her hands covered with blood that cannot be washed away — Ms. Netrebko was in a zone, one moment emitting chilling outbursts, the next shaping haunted phrases with eerily hushed radiance.