United States Mazzoli, The Listeners: Soloists, Opera Philadelphia Refrain & Orchestra / Corrado Rovaris (conductor). Opera Philadelphia, Academy of Music, Philadelphia, 27.9.2024. (RP)
Opera Philadelphia opened its 2024/25 season with the US premiere of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s The Listeners. The composer/librettist staff had success with Breaking the Waves, which had its world premiere with the corporate in 2016, however lightning has not struck twice with their newest effort. Though The Listeners offers with some fascinating subjects, and I’ve solely reward for the forged and the manufacturing staff, the story is way too convoluted. Vavrek’s libretto does little to streamline the plot and make it coherent.
At its core, the opera offers with Ranchlands, a suburban group within the US Southwest the place persons are experiencing the ‘Hum’. That is the title given to an precise worldwide phenomenon through which individuals report listening to persistent and invasive low-frequency buzzing, rumbling or droning noises which can be audible to many individuals, however not all.
Claire Devon, a mom and schoolteacher, is experiencing the Hum, and is first seen howling on the moon with Coyote, her imaginary animal pal. Paul, her husband, and Ashley, their teenage daughter, neither fathom nor have a lot persistence with Claire’s quickly escalating idiosyncrasies.
Kyle Harris, considered one of her college students, seems to be anxious and doing poorly at school. He admits to listening to the Hum and Claire is relieved to have discovered a fellow traveler.
When Claire is seen hugging Kyle, rumors unfold that they’re having a relationship. Claire is so preoccupied with Kyle that she breaks off having intercourse together with her husband to take a name from {the teenager}. Ashley bitterly complains that her mom is oblivious as to her points as nicely, which vary from boy issues, nipple piercing and shoplifting to a being pregnant scare. After Claire melts down within the classroom, she is fired.
With some hesitation, she agrees to go together with Kyle to a self-help group for these experiencing the Hum that meets within the luxurious dwelling of Howard Bart, a new-age guru with lengthy white hair. Angela Rose, his anointed ‘Quantity Two’, is raring and empathetic to the nth diploma in welcoming the newcomers. All through Act I, Howard and Angela document ‘confessions’ with individuals within the group who’re looking for assist, and these are projected in larger-than-life, black-and-white movies on the display screen in actual time. All of the accounts are disturbing, and a few are actually gut-wrenching. The gossip and private experiences swapped by Ashley and her schoolmates at an earlier level weren’t any extra uplifting.
On a Fb livestream, Claire makes statements concerning the Hum that go viral. Ranchlands residents worry that their property values will drop, and the Devon house is vandalized. It hardly appears to part Claire when her husband and daughter depart her. That’s the place it stands on the finish of the primary act.
In Act II, issues begin to gel. Angela’s confession, through which she laid naked her vulnerabilities, is an emotional punch to the intestine. Dillon, one other of the group members, spews conspiracy theories concerning the darkish internet. Howard witnesses Claire and Kyle kissing, which sends the plot in a brand new path.
Howard, together with his new age, feel-good vibes is much less concerned with addressing the scientific features of the Hum than in accruing intercourse and energy. He installs Claire as his Quantity Two which sends Angela into orbit. With Howard’s cruelty to Angela, the scales start to fall from the eyes of the others, they usually see him for the fraud that he’s – he can not even hear the Hum.
The gig is up when the police raid Howard’s dwelling, which leads to 4 individuals being killed. The Coyote, who’s on the scene, could or could not have fired first on the police. Reside information updates are given by an effusive and horny information reporter, Theresa Alvarez. That is pure overkill plot smart.
On the finish of the opera, Claire, Angela, Kyle and different Listeners have discovered peace and now stay collectively within the Devon dwelling. Paul and Ashley attempt to coax Claire to return to them, however she refuses. Because the curtain falls, Kyle takes Claire’s hand and, along with the opposite Listeners, they begin howling. The orchestra fades with the Hum evoked by way of a haze of digital sounds filling the void.
Mazzoli’s rating can be problematic. Her ingenuity, fascinating musical textures and the mixing of acoustical and digital sounds will not be the issue. The problems are largely in the way in which Mazzoli units the textual content, particularly in Act I the place many of the dialogue is delivered in a recitative-style method. This method, along with the mass of characters and a number of plot strains, fails to get the opera’s dramatic juices flowing.
Within the Confessionals. that are in essence arias, Mazzoli hits her mark. With only a little bit of plot to sew them collectively, they might have made for a strong opera, without having for the peripheral household drama that programs by way of the work.
Lileana Blain-Cruz properly performs it straight, if somewhat tongue in cheek, together with her staging. The Devon dwelling, faculty and Howard’s mansion are all realistically rendered. Issues appear so neat and tidy on the floor in Ranchlands that the Stepford Wives would really feel proper at dwelling there.
The truth that you take care of these individuals is undoubtedly due partly to Blain-Cruz’s work with the singers in crafting such clearly outlined, intriguing characters. Blain-Cruz additionally likes colour and has a way of fancy. The groovy vibes generated by the gentle pastel hues of the Listeners’ apparel within the remaining scene tempted one to begin buzzing ‘Let the Sunshine In’ from Hair.
There have been some standout performances, largely by singers who portrayed larger-than-life characters with actually scarred psyches. Rehanna Thelwell was a powerhouse as Angela Rose. The sweetness and light-weight Thelwell displayed early on gave no indication of the torrential outpouring of despair to come back when she sang of her previous or exploded at Howard’s betrayal. Lindsey Reynolds was reduce from the identical fabric: as Ashley, Reynold’s each utterance was electrical. John Moore as Dillon generated related warmth together with his rants. Earnest and low key, Joseph Lim’s Thom reduce by way of the drama successfully by insisting that science be introduced into the dialogue, a notion that Howard dismissed out of hand.
Lucy Schaufer’s Hortense justified wiping the disgusting smirk off her husband’s face with a he-had-it-coming bravura. Diana Newman because the blade-wielding, self-mutilating Danica engendered compassion. As Howard, Kevin Burdette oozed smugness and insincerity – not even his partaking voice made this character any much less smarmy and repellant.
Aaron Crouch’s Kyle took some time to heat up vocally. By the point he made his soul-baring confession on the finish of the opera, Crouch was in fantastic form. As Claire, Nicole Heaston is a large number of contradictions expressed in a creamy, wealthy soprano, whereas Troy Prepare dinner as her husband radiated decency. As fantastic as these two singing actors are, they paled compared dramatically to these enjoying the strolling wounded who populated the stage.
Corrado Rovaris led a masterful studying of Mazzoli’s rating. The sounds that emerged from the pit have been mild and clear. The musical punctuation marks that Mazzoli wrote into the rating emerged organically, creating not solely colour however drama.
There’s an opera in The Listeners. Maybe Mazzoli and Royce will launch it.
Rick Perdian
Manufacturing:
Director – Lileana Blain-Cruz
Libretto – Royce Vavrek
Units – Adam Rigg
Costumes – Kaye Voyce
Lighting – Yi Zhao
Sound – Daniel Neumann
Choreography – Raja Feather Kelly
Video – Hannah Wasileski
Dramaturgy – Cori Ellison
Refrain grasp – Elizabeth Braden
Solid:
Claire Devon – Nicole Heaston
Paul Devon – Troy Prepare dinner
Ashley Devon – Lindsey Reynolds
Howard Bard – Kevin Burdette
Kyle Harris – Aaron Crouch
Angela Rose – Rehanna Thelwell
Dillon – John Moore
Hortense – Lucy Schaufer
Thom – Joseph Lim
Vince – Daniel Taylor
Danica – Diana Newman
Coyote – Sydney Donovan
Sina – Jessica Beebe
Emily – Taylor-Alexis DuPont
Bram – Zachary Altman
Theresa Alvarez – Guadalupe Paz
Mrs. Moreno – Alissa Anderson
Jess – Amanda Sheriff
Lee Ann – Lauren Prepare dinner
