Photo: PentatoneMissy Mazzoli: The Listeners
Can You Hear the Sound?
The Listeners. An opera about a group of people who begin to hear a mysterious low-frequency hum.
Not a television. Not a neighbor’s washing machine. A low, persistent sound “from below” that only some people can hear.
Drawn to this sound, they gather, gradually drifting away from ordinary society to become some kind of underground community.
This is one of the most anticipated opera recordings of 2026—this world-premiere recording, led by soprano Nicole Heaston, is being released on Pentatone.
Who Is Listening?
Missy Mazzoli is one of the most important—and most anticipated—composers in contemporary American opera.
She is the first woman ever commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera—her Lincoln in the Bardo will premiere at the Met in autumn 2026.
The Listeners is her latest collaboration with her longtime librettist, Royce Vavrek.
The story begins with a middle-class housewife named Claire Devon. One day, she begins to hear the sound. From that day on, her life can never return to what it was.
The Low Frequency
Mazzoli uses double basses, percussion, and electronics to create that “audible but invisible” low-frequency hum at the heart of the opera.
It isn’t terrifying. It’s seductive—like a summons from somewhere deep that you cannot ignore.
What makes this opera truly great is that it never tells you whether the sound is real or not. It only lets you follow Claire, and begin to wonder along with her: maybe that sound really does exist.
Why Listen?
This is not a “beautiful” traditional opera. It is uneasy, eerie, yet strangely warm—much like real faith and a real sense of belonging, which are often contradictory.
Heaston’s Claire moves from confusion, to resistance, to final surrender, with a subtle and complete vocal arc. You follow her, down into that world “below.”
And—this is an opera about “hearing a sound that others cannot.” In an age of information overload and growing loneliness, this theme hits closer to home than ever.
Further Listening
To feel another depth of contemporary music, Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s Kurtág: Játékok offers a modern masterwork for solo piano. And Radvanovsky’s Puccini: Heroines presents the other end of the operatic tradition.
About the Performer
American soprano, born and raised in Chicago's Hyde Park, graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory. Originated the role of Claire Devon in The Listeners (2022 Oslo, 2025 Chicago).
American composer (b. 1980). The first woman commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera (Lincoln in the Bardo). Operas include Breaking the Waves, Proving Up, and The Listeners, mostly with librettist Royce Vavrek. Three-time Grammy nominee.
A leading North American opera house founded in 1954.
Spanish-Italian conductor (b. 1968). Music director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago since 2021.
About the Composer
American composer (b. 1980), a leading voice in contemporary American opera. Her operas address myth, faith, and the strange edges of human connection.
Taiwan Performance History
Composer Missy Mazzoli and soprano Nicole Heaston have no documented performances in Taiwan. The opera is a Norwegian/American commission that has not yet been produced in Asia.