Orchestra 2001's Sherlock Holmes chamber opera

Making Sherlock Holmes human is a recent endeavor of playwrights who, applying contemporary views of manhood, hope to find the vulnerable side of the coldly rational sleuth.

Librettists have joined the search, too. Nathalie Anderson's libretto for

A Scandal in Bohemia

presents Holmes as a man shaken by his fascination with the enigmatic and unattainable singer Irene Adler. This is the Holmes that composer Thomas Whitman seeks to portray in his chamber opera, premiered Friday by Orchestra 2001 at the Perelman Theater.

This piece - casting two principals backed by two men singing in multiple roles - was presented with the text and stage directions projected grandly behind the orchestra. The prominence of the text unconsciously raised - and answered - the operatic question: Which comes first, the words or the music?

Anderson's words finely hone her characters, while efficiently baring levels of feeling and washing the stage with good humor. Whitman's score, not getting the best send-off in this rather shaky first night, paints the stage with epigrammatic bits of color. The big moment and the thrilling climax are not part of the Holmes canon. There are no triumphs, no disasters, and only inner musings and thoughts about "what if?"

Whitman's orchestra is spare - five strings, a harp, three brass and three winds, plus an array of percussion and keyboards - and quick to underscore a mood shift or inner conflict.

At this performance, the first act was a word-packed effort to give listeners all they needed to know about the problem. The second act became much more. Whitman's soliloquy for Adler approached operatic proportions. The scene, with choral support, included nicely imagined vocal decorations for soprano Laura Heimes.

The act had musical shape and pacing. The musical tide rose, instrumental color expanding and vocal writing widening the perspectives. The musical interplay between Heimes and baritone Markus Beam moved through a range of solidly crafted lines that freed the emotions within.

James Freeman conducted the forces confidently throughout the score, and bass Julian Rodescu and baritone David Kravitz developed multiple roles with good humor.