The Listeners, a new opera by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Roy Vavrek is raw and familiar. At its American premiere in the Academy of Music, despite the company abandoning its fall opera festival this year, Opera Philadelphia continued its leadership in presenting contemporary works and established works in novel formats, probing the future of opera. Under recent new leadership by international star counter tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, the company put its money where its mouth is when saying opera is for everybody. In a bold move, Opera Philadelphia invited everyone to experience opera, offering any seat in the house in the 2024-2025 season for as low as $11! The result thus far has been rewarding with over 10,000 seats sold in a two-week period since the announcement, and the majority purchased by first time OP attendees. The more youthful-looking audience at the opening on Wednesday night was treated to an American work, one that presented disturbing themes affecting everyday people in modern America and the righting effect of unconditional love, truly American verismo.
A vulnerable Claire (Nicole Heaston) is preyed upon by cult leader Howard (Kevin Burdette). Photo by Steve Pisano; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.
Composer Mazzoli and librettist Vavrek’s previous works together, especially Breaking the Waves (2016) and Proving Up (2018) have garnered a great deal of attention and praise. The team’s works are not uplifting stories about happy people leading the good life. Their primary theme has been human suffering and its causes. The Listeners is based on an original story by Jordan Tannahill, created through discussions with the composer and librettist about themes in modern life that they wished to work on, including women in pain not being listened to, the vulnerability of isolated people, and the dangerous power of charismatic leaders and conspiracy theories. The opera’s American premiere was delayed by the COVID pandemic, so it was first performed by the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo in 2022. It will now move to a spring 2025 production by Lyric Opera of Chicago. The opera was co-commissioned by those three companies.
Claire (Nicole Heaston) expressing her pain from the hum outside her home in the middle of the night with Coyote (Sydney Donovan) keeping her company. Photo by Steve Pisano; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.
Spoiler alert: In the story, Claire a high school teacher in today’s American southwest begins to hear and be profoundly disturbed by a hum that none of her immediate family and friends can hear (episodes of groups of people who hear sounds not perceived by the majority is well documented); instead of sympathy Claire is chastised by her husband and daughter for her irrational behavior and negative impact on the family. She begins to bond with one of her students Kyle who also hears the hum; she receives community disapproval for this relationship, perceived as inappropriate. She loses her job and finds a support group of other individuals who hear the hum. Howard, the self-appointed leader of the group appears to offer love and understanding to the sufferers but soon reveals his dark side, putting down anyone who challenges his authority, turning the group into a cult doing his bidding. Howard goes too far in berating Angela, his recently disposed #2, and the group rebels. A newly empowered Claire emerges as the new leader. Overall, the story moves in a straightforward direction, providing a mild surprise in the ending, poignant and ambiguous.
Ashley (Lindsey Reynolds) sings the aria "Bitch and Moan" to her mother Claire. Photo by Steve Pisano; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.
Ms. Mazzoli’s music was strikingly engaging and beautifully delivered by the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Conductor Corrado Rovaris. The music supported and accented the action on stage. Ms. Mazzoli’s color palette used in her operas is wider and more complex than most. She mixed music that was at times dissonate and at times lovely with an array of sounds over the evening to display the hum in different fashions. At times, part of me wanted to put the action on the stage on pause and just listen to the interesting music.
The arias in the score were largely impassioned and tension filled to reflect the suffering and inner turmoil the characters were feeling. Some were more tender, reflecting the longings of the characters. A group of soloists were featured in individual “confessionals”, where they sang their stories on the side of the stage being videotaped by Howard, while being shown in large-sized streaming close ups on a projection screen. Additional named characters made up the remainder of the cult group which served as a chorus. The choral music served to show the cohesiveness of the group and was particularly enjoyable, kudos to Chorus Master Elizabeth Braden.
Leader Howard (Kevin Burdette) fashions his group. Photo by Steve Pisano; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.
The large cast was headed by soprano Nicole Heaston who also led the cast that performed in Oslo. I saw her previously in a concert version of Turandot by Maryland Lyric Opera, where I called her an ideal Liu. As an impressive Claire, she used her bright, clear voice to display vulnerability with a growing strength over the course of the performance. Her husband Paul was played effectively by baritone Trey Cook; Paul viewed his relationship with Claire as an assigned role. Claire’s spitfire daughter Ashley was played by Curtis Institute graduate, soprano Lindsey Reynolds in an attention-grabbing performance; I hope we will see more of Ms. Reynolds. Another standout performance was given by outstanding mezzo-soprano Rehanna Thewell as Angela, the cult leader’s #2. She sang beautifully, often endearingly, projecting a character both comical and tragic. Cult leader Howard was played by veteran American bass Kevin Burdette. I enjoyed his singing, though, as a non-member of the cult, I never felt the charisma he supposedly projected, making it hard to appreciate the spell he had on the group. I will mention only three other performers among many who made an impression on me: tenor Aaron Crouch who portrayed endearingly the student Kyle who became attached to Claire, baritone Joseph Lim who played Thom who tried to bring science into the discussion of the hum, and baritone John Moore as the conspiracy obsessed Dillon.
Angela (Rehanna Thelwell) is a worried #2 to Howard. Photo by Steve Pisano; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.
The production is very well done. Professionalism is in evidence in all aspects, beginning with the set design. The action on stage is framed by panels on either side and above that move in and out to focus or expand our view. In the middle is a rotating stage that assists in rapid scene changes from home to school to meeting hall. Kudos to Adam Rigg for the set design, Kay Voyce for costume design, Yi Zhao for lighting design, Daniel Neuman for sound design, and Amanda Clark for hair and makeup design. Opera audiences typically view the performers in character from a distance that blurs facial expressions; opera streaming has caused directors and performers to pay more attention to expressions in their acting. The Listeners used a mixture of both, as the different characters had their expressions in close up in screen projections during the confessionals, more effectively conveying their emotions. Kudos to Hannah Wasileski for projection design, and to Director Lileana Blain-Cruz for this added feature of the staging. The story overall was told in a straightforward progression interspersing different vignettes, such as three high school girls discussing a parent’s infidelity, a screen broadcast of social media trolling, and sensational news reporting, replete with profanity, adding both comic touches and familiar elements of modernity, definitely American verismo. Kudos also to librettist Vavrek for the vignettes and for the stories told in the many screen closeups, an impressively varied group that told a common story of isolation and vulnerability. Another element I enjoyed was the appearance of a coyote, played by dancer Sydney Donovan, who enriched many of the scenes with wonder, emphasizing the element of nature, including human nature.
left photo: Student Kyle (Aaron Crouch) suffers from the hum. right photo: Group member Thom (Joseph Lim) tries to introduce a scientific study. Photo by Steve Pisano; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.
I thought the opera suffered somewhat from its largely news reporting style. It begins with the characters in crisis. Suppose we had gotten to know and like the Claire before the hum changed her? Suppose we had gotten a better sense of the charisma of the leader and his sexual appeal to Claire?
left photo: Dillon (John Moore) attacks a tower he believes the government is using to create the hum. right photo: Reporter (Guadalupe Paz) covers the sensational event. Photo by Steve Pisano; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.
The listeners was impressive on several fronts: the quality of the singers, the engaging music, and the professionalism of the production, as well as the timeliness of the story. Charismatic leaders, cults, conspiracy theories, threats of violence, the increasing isolation of the people, and the impact of social media all characterize American life today. The ending offered a ray of hope…empowerment through selfless love, but with an ambiguous element. Will Claire’s empowerment yield a positive support group or a new version of the cult? Power corrupts, or at least it’s been known to. Nietzsche got it wrong; the opiate of the masses is charismatic leaders preying on the human need for acceptance and belonging. Opiates can cause us not to clearly see what is in front of us. It’s a dangerous mix.
In the end, the opera aligns with the aspects of modern life that it portrays. Your reaction to the opera very likely depends on your reaction to those aspects of modern life. A positive I can claim from a distressing plot is that it caused me to think about the important issues it raised, and I feel more sympathy and empathy for those individuals that suffer from pain, whether physical or emotional, not felt by other people, and more respect for human vulnerability. Art has an impact, as Mr. Costanzo might say. It certainly drew an enthusiastic response from the newish audience in attendance Wednesday night.
The Fan Experience: Performances of The Listeners were scheduled for September 25, 27, 29. The first performance was a near sell out and there was no ticket availability for the remaining two. The opera was sung in English with supertitles in English shown overhead. The performance lasted two and a half hours with a twenty-minute intermission. An informative pre-opera talk by OP’s scholar in residence Lily Kass was held in the theater one hour before the performance time. Hopes that the composer and librettist would be present for the pre-opera talk were not realized though they were present later at the performance itself!
The Pick Your Price format extends for the remainder of the opera season, though checking just now, there are only limited seats available for all performances of The Anonymous Lover and Don Giovanni which will be performed in 2025. The pricing scheme for the next season remains to be determined.