François Hudry has reviewed Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners for Qobuz, describing the opera as a captivating thriller about social rejection and abuses of power.
Hudry places the work within a vibrant moment for American opera, one that draws on contemporary events, classics of literature and even cinema, in a musical language accessible to a broad audience. The Listeners premiered in Oslo in 2022 and was co-commissioned by Opera Philadelphia and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Its main character, the teacher Claire Devon, is driven to the brink of madness by a relentless humming noise and soon finds herself in a group with the trappings of a sinister cult. Around this plot, he writes, Mazzoli weaves a tonal, effective score, and he praises the role of Claire as magnificently performed by soprano Nicole Heaston, who premiered it in Norway. The review concludes that the opera confirms Mazzoli’s prominence within the American operatic landscape.
The album is a live recording made at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in spring 2025, conducted by Enrique Mazzola.
Read the full review on Qobuz.