David Horne's first full-scale opera, a commission from Scottish Opera, is based on the life of the little-known 18th-century parliamentary reformer Thomas Muir. In the 1790s, Muir set up the so-called Friends of the People in Scotland to work towards social justice and votes for all.

The problem with Muir's story is that it seems more like an interesting history lesson than an operatic plot. Because of sketchy biographical information, Horne and his librettist, the MP Robert Maclennan, made up various aspects of Muir's story, most importantly Thomas's love interest, the vengeful serving girl Annie Fisher.

Horne's music in the first two acts creates a highly charged atmosphere of intrigue. The memorable, soft-focused chords of the prologue act as the motto for Muir's ultimately doomed quest. They provide a frame of reference throughout the piece, and mark the few occasions where the voices and the orchestra coalesce. The rest of the time, the orchestral palette of eruptive roulades and swoops seems to inhabit a world of shifting, unconscious drama. However, Horne is an orchestrator of virtuoso finesse and imagination. In the love scene, he conjures a sense of menace as well as contentment: this must be one of the few stage kisses to be accompanied by a growling contrabassoon solo.

By focusing so completely on illustrating the undercurrents of the story in the orchestra, however, the score sometimes feels dislocated from the action on stage. And there are serious problems with the third act, where scenes from Muir's amazing travels leave no room for the character to develop.

Even so, the cast give hugely committed performances. Peter Savidge's stamina and passion in the title role are outstanding, and Philip Salmon excels as the conniving and slippery Reverend James Lapslie. Richard Farnes and Scottish Opera's orchestra create a supple, fluid sound.