The Power of Sounds – that was the original title of the sound opera *hellhörig*, which premiered at the 2008 Munich Biennale, and it aptly captures what is at the heart of this work: Carola Bauckholt does not take the usual approach of expanding the sound of traditional instruments into noise, but rather the reverse: The noises come first; instruments and human voices relate to them, imitate them and create unsettling interactions. The instrumentation is supplemented by, among other things, a zinc tub, metal lampshades, tins and boxes, balls, vacuum cleaners and balloons.