When a new production at the Metropolitan Opera gets lambasted by critics, the company obviously cannot afford to toss out the whole show and start over. But often the Met will fix the most egregious problems when the production returns.

No production in the Met's recent history was more critically drubbed than Franco Zeffirelli's staging of Verdi's "Traviata," introduced in late 1998. The production returned to the company on Thursday night, but no adjustments appear to have been made. Mr. Zeffirelli's set designs manage to look both grossly opulent and cheap at once. Every tawdry bit of his work is back.

The consumptive courtesan Violetta still gives a party at her Paris home for a rowdy group of guests dressed in a garish array of evening gowns and formal wear (designed by Raimonda Gaetani). In Act II, the simple country house that Violetta and her adoring Alfredo have been living in for three months boasts a gargantuan salon painted in a color that could be called hospital corridor green. Visitors enter through a huge attached solarium filled with exotic tropical plants. The Spanish soiree thrown by the wealthy Flora Bervoix in Act III is still a stupefying spectacle: when the chorus sings the tale of a young matador, you can only feel embarrassed for the group of female dancers who appear dressed as cows in spotted tights, horn-ribbed headdresses and extra padding in the seats of their pants.

It's hard for singers to make an impact in this smothering production. That said, the Chilean-born soprano Cristina Gallardo-Domas, who made her Met debut in 1996 as Mimi in "La Boheme," gave a tantalizing performance as Violetta. A full report will have to wait, because it was announced beforehand that Ms. Gallardo-Domas was singing despite a sinus condition.

Without knowing her voice, it was impossible to say whether the nasal, slightly congested quality of her tone and her tendency to push her pitch sharp were attributable to her indisposition. Still, Ms. Gallardo-Domas has a vibrant spinto soprano voice. She shaped Violetta's plaintive melodies with lyrical loveliness, and when called for sent climactic phrases soaring through the house. Though a somewhat emotive actress, she is a lovely young woman who compels your attention.

Like many Italian singers, the tenor Roberto Aronica, who sang Alfredo, has an idiomatic sense of the language and an essentially lyrical approach to phrasing. On this occasion the vibrato in his voice had a persistent wobble, and his sound, which is not large despite his effort, was often pinched.

It is hard not to judge the Russian baritone Vladimir Chernov, who sang Germont, against the high hopes everyone had for him when he made his Met debut in 1991. Once in a while he sang a phrase with virile sound and arching shape, and you were reminded of his impressive gifts. But he has struggled in recent years. His tone often sounded grainy and muffled, and his singing was insecure. The able conductor, Roberto Abbado, had difficulty following Mr. Chernov, who tended to leap ahead in phrases when his breath started giving out.

Yet no singer has much chance to make an impression in Mr. Zeffirelli's tasteless production.