The Listeners: daring psychological thriller opens Opera Philadelphia season

Opera Philadelphia launched a new era on 25th September with the US premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners. The event represented the formal start of Anthony Roth Costanzo’s tenure as general director and president, along with the welcome return of the local-born composer whose Breaking the Waves from 2016 remains one of the company’s all-time triumphs. The boffo fundraising blitz that accompanied Costanzo’s appointment also allowed the implementation of a pay-what-you-decide pricing scheme for this season’s performances, with tickets beginning at just $11. I can’t recall the last time I saw the Academy of Music packed to the gills on a weekday evening, especially for an unfamiliar new piece of music.

Working from an original story by Jordan Tannahill, Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek draw on the contemporary fascination with cult mindsets and conspiracy theories. Claire Devon, a schoolteacher in a nondescript American suburb, finds her peace of mind disrupted by a persistent humming sound she believes that only she can hear. Her search for answers leads her to a group led by the charismatic Howard Bard, all of whom suffer from the same affliction. Sequestered in the desert, they ponder the meaning of their unusual predicament – is it a religious phenomenon, a government psyop, a manifestation of unfulfilled desires?

Vavrek’s libretto avoids sensationalizing material that could easily seem tawdry and cheap. Despite finding themselves in a fantastical situation, the characters – which include a student of Claire’s, Kyle Harris, who finds himself unmoored as the youngest member of the group – emerge with dimensionality, engendering empathy from the audience. Similarly, Mazzoli’s score resists the familiar buttons one might expect from a psychological thriller. Don’t expect to hear the hum blatantly replicated by the orchestra, but do expect a constant sense of tension through unerring counterpoint, unsettled clusters of woodwind and jarring percussive elements. Corrado Rovaris balanced lyricism and agitation in the pit and was unflaggingly supportive of the singers on stage.

The production, by Lileana Blain-Cruz, grounds the viewer in a bland but menacing suburban milieu that recalls the early films of David Lynch. Adam Rigg’s scenic design suggest a darker world lurking beneath manicured surfaces, and the use of projections (by Hannah Wasileski) that act as “confessionals” for the cult members foster a sense of depersonalization for the people telling their stories. There are some hackneyed elements that don’t work – the use of a dancer, Sydney Donovan, who stalks the stage in a Chappell Roan wig as a personification of Claire’s psychosis could be excised entirely without losing any dramatic momentum. But the overall effect of the staging matches the disquieting tenor of the story being told.

The company fielded a strong cast anchored by debuting soprano Nicole Heaston, whose vibrant voice and committed acting communicated Claire’s rising anguish. Troy Cook, an Opera Philadelphia veteran, was a sympathetic presence as her exasperated husband Paul; Lindsey Reynolds, a memorable presence from her student days at the Curtis Institute, personified teenage angst through daringly high vocal lines as her daughter Ashley. Tenor Aaron Crouch movingly conveyed Kyle’s sense of mounting mental instability, a young man thrust into a situation he doesn’t understand.

Strong support came from Rehanna Thelwell as Angela, a would-be leader in the “Community Action Group” who slowly goes off the rails; John Moore as Dillon, a military veteran who comes to believe the hum is a government plot; and Lucy Schaufer as Hortense, a husband-hater providing a welcome dose of comic relief. Debuting baritone Joseph Lim and soprano Diana Newman brought vocal distinction to small roles. Only Kevin Burdette disappointed as Howard: his countenance more comedic than captivating, his baritone thin rather than commanding.

The Listeners augurs well for Opera Philadelphia’s next chapter. In remarks before the performance, Costanzo noted that among the 10,000 tickets sold since the ticketing initiative was announced on 27th August, 68% were purchased by first-time operagoers. If the company continues to produce works as daring and satisfying as this, those novices will surely become repeat customers.