Music review: SCO Digital Season, Sally Beamish Opus California

Sally Beamish’s pithy and immediate Opus California is an ideal candidate for online viewing, writes David Kettle

SCO Digital Season: Sally Beamish Opus California ****

Sitting down in front of your computer and tuning into an online concert might feel like a bit of a hangover from the dark Covid times, when that was all we had. It’s something that the Scottish Chamber Orchestra – like many arts ensembles – turned to back then, but digital concerts have become a permanent part of the SCO’s regular seasons. And they’ve really run with the idea: shorter, lesser-known pieces; atmospheric, bespoke filming in Leith Theatre; and a constellation of supporting material – in this case including an interview with the composer herself.

And long-time Scottish resident Sally Beamish’s Opus California, her second string quartet, makes an ideal candidate for online viewing. It’s pithy and immediate – Beamish herself explains that writing it in 1999, inspired by a visit to the US West Coast, felt like freeing herself from the strictures of academic modernism – and it repays the close-up watching that a filmed performance offers.

Sally Beamish's Opus California was inspired by a visit to the US West Coast (Picture: Ashley Coombes)

There’s little sense that the four SCO players who deliver it aren’t a permanent, well-established quartet – ensemble and blend are immaculate, and there’s an engaging crispness to their playing, particularly evident in Beamish’s rhythmic outer movements. The strutting Santa Cruz boardwalkers of her jazzy first movement might sound a little nervy in the SCO’s hands, but there’s an eloquent elegance of shaping and phrasing to the players’ luminous second movement, a vision of the Golden Gate Bridge emerging from the fog, and first violinist Hed Yaron-Meyerson gets to show off his characterful playing in a zippy finale.

There are quibbles – like how much a dark and moody Leith Theatre really reflects Beamish’s sunny, open-air music. But more importantly, it’s entirely convincing as a musical film, not just a filmed performance, and the close, clear and resonant sound is as good as you’d get on a CD. Catch it via the SCO website until 18 November.