For those whose operatic taste is strictly hummable tunes and a clear story, look away now. Song from the Uproar is by contemporary American composer Missy Mazzoli, so expect jangly rhythms, electronic elements and a loose, abstract tale.

Lyric Opera’s sparse Australian premiere production adds to the challenge of grasping this elusive opera, but overall it’s an accomplished interpretation including by Olivia Federow-Yemm in the only principal role.

Olivia Federow-Yemm in Lyric Opera’s Songs from the Uproar. Photo © Jodie Hutchinson

Mazzoli is probably best known for her second opera, Breaking the Waves, which was presented by Opera Australia last year. Her first, Song from the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt, premiered in New York in 2012, and was inspired by the writings of an extraordinary Swiss woman.

Eberhardt’s unconventional life reached scandalous levels when she moved to Algeria in 1897 after the death of her immediate family. She worked as a journalist, dressed as a man, converted to Islam and married an Algerian before dying in a flash flood aged 27.

Quoting Eberhardt’s journals, the libretto by Mazzoli...