Melbourne’s intrepid Lyric Opera presents the Australian premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar. Set to a libretto by Royce Vavrek, the chamber opera tells the story of Isabelle Eberhardt, a Swiss-Algerian explorer, writer and mystic. Born in 1877, Eberhardt travelled to North Africa where she lived an adventurous, defiant life. Dressing as a man, she scandalised colonial authorities, married an Algerian and converted to Sufism before dying in a flash flood at the age of 27. Mezzo-soprano Olivia Federow-Yemm plays Eberhardt alongside a cast of talented young singers and instrumentalists. Patrick Burns conducts Beng Oh’s production.

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Melbourne’s multi-award-winning Lyric Opera returns to fortyfivedownstairs to present the Australian premiere of this “dazzlingly original score”. First staged at The Kitchen in New York, it has been hailed as a masterpiece of modern opera, drawing influences from baroque to minimalism to indie rock.

Isabelle Eberhardt’s journals were a rich source of inspiration for Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek. Eberhardt, born in 1877, led an extraordinary though short life. After the deaths of all her immediate family, she travelled unfettered to North Africa on a journey of self-discovery. She rode through the desert dressed as a man, outraged authorities, married an Algerian, converted to Sufism, and died in a flood, all by the age of 27.

The role of Eberhardt will be sung by the “commanding and captivating” mezzo-soprano Olivia Federow-Yemm supported by a cast of Melbourne’s most talented young singers and instrumentalists.