‘Samson’ shorn of mobility

Camille Saint-Saens’ 1877 “Samson and Delilah” is so static, people have debated almost since its premiere whether it’s an opera at all. Some say it works best as an oratorio. Michele Assaf’s staging for Opera Pacific -- which opened a four-performance run of the work Tuesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center -- didn’t help the opera advocates much.

For most of the work, Assaf grouped the characters in tableaux. When she moved them, she didn’t spend much time worrying about their motivation. The fight between Samson and Abimelech, the commander of the Philistines, looked particularly stiff.

Assaf did line everyone up at the end of the opera so that the pillars of the temple could fall neatly on them. But this was old-fashioned opera at its hoariest.

Of course, much of this could have been redeemed by the right singers. Unfortunately, Allan Glassman as Samson proved heroic in neither voice nor stature. He sang with a tight, hard, small tenor that often sounded pushed to its limit. Although he looked inspired when singing of Jehovah, his voice didn’t expand with thrilling power.

When he made love to Delilah, his tone stayed much the same. His movements were wooden, even clumsy. He had limited ways of expressing conflict between the spirit and the flesh: holding his arms wide, and holding his arms wider.

Still, chained to the mill wheel in Act 3, he grew more sympathetic. His voice even sounded larger. Maybe he had been pacing himself.

Milena Kitic, as Delilah, showed off an arresting, powerful voice. She dominated the stage, as a good Delilah should, but some vocal allure and subtlety that should be part of the role were missing. Uncharacteristically, Kitic had breath problems in her first aria, making choppy what should have been smooth and continuous. But she remained the intelligent center of the production.

Once he managed to get his vocal wobble under control, Christopher Robertson made an assertive High Priest.

David Michael was a strong Abimelech. Kurt Link sang the Old Hebrew with sympathy.

The chorus, trained by Henri Venanzi, sang with sensitivity to quieter dynamics, which conductor John DeMain made much use of in his lyrical reading of the score.

Assaf also served as the choreographer, casting her dancers into a messy, fabric-tangled web at the start of the Bacchanale but soon providing enough flesh and flash to generate a genuine sense of sleaze at the Temple of Dagon. The onstage chorus watching the dancers seemed to be having a good time.

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‘Samson and Delilah’

Where: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday

Price: $35 to $185

Info: (800) 346-7372 or www.operapacific.org