Entertainment

NYC Opera’s ‘Moses in Egypt’ well-sung, but it looks like ‘Ten Commandments’ for Xbox

Like the Israelites who cross the Red Sea in “Moses in Egypt,” New York City Opera has a long, hard road ahead of it. But the company’s performance Sunday of this Rossini rarity offered a glimpse of a promising future.

This 1817 opera has a split focus: There are Moses’ efforts to persuade Pharaoh to release his people from bondage, plus a nonbiblical romance between Pharaoh’s son and — you guessed it — a nice Jewish girl.

Given the static, pageant-like structure of this piece, director Michael Counts made a savvy decision to stage it with stylized movement and video projections. But shaky execution undermined his good intentions.

The slo-mo processions looked ragged, and Ada Whitney and Beehive’s video — mostly rolling sand dunes and animated camels — was cartoonishly literal.

At times, this “Moses” played like “The Ten Commandments” as adapted for Xbox.

More worthwhile were the performances. Under the deft baton of music director Jayce Ogren, bass-baritone Wayne Tigges as Pharaoh and soprano Keri Alkema as his wife, Almatea, flung out their extravagant vocal lines boldly — and even brought dignity to Jessica Jahn’s low-camp costumes.

Soprano Siân Davies and tenor Randall Bills warbled sensitively as the star-crossed lovers Elcia and Osiride, and mezzo Emily Righter sounded warm and lyrical in the supporting role of Amenofi.

As Moses, bass David Salsbery Fry,subbing for David Cushing, sang Moses’ music accurately but utterly without charisma.

Toward the end of the opera, when the Red Sea parted, the City Center audience burst into applause. For the miracle of presenting “Moses” so solidly on a shoestring budget, NYCO deserves another ovation.