[1][2] In a review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek wrote: "When Murray plays you can feel, as Annette Peacock put it..., that there are at least 12 children inhabiting one adult body.

He is everywhere creating, each time he plays, notions of polyrhythm and textural tonality that haven't existed before the moment he rolled them off his sticks onto the kit.

"[3] The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings awarded the album 4 stars, calling it "a gentle classic," and stating: "Apparently Sunny was so drawn to his kit that he started playing during an intended intermission, a sound which attracted Mateen out from the dressing room to join him... We are most certainly not at the opera.

"[4] Writing for Jazz Times, Bill Shoemaker commented: "These four duets... provide a full airing of the many facets of Murray's drumming.

Though polyrhythm and texture form the foundation of most of his work, he still manages to power through some vividly colorful expressionist moments... Mateen... moves fluidly between plaintive melodies and fiery saxophone sandblasting... We Are Not at the Opera is a delicious morsel helping celebrate Murray's return to recording the ecstatic music he helped invent.