Song from the upoar: the lives and deaths of isabelle eberhardt

Song from the Uproar: the Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt is acclaimed American composer Missy Mazzoli’s first opera, and this production for Lyric Opera of Melbourne was its Australian premiere.

Director’s Note
Song from the Uproar is born of Mazzoli’s enduring fascination with the Swiss writer and explorer Isabelle Eberhardt. She attempts to capture Eberhardt’s essence in different scenes drawn from her life, real and imagined. The scenes sit alongside each other, but do not necessarily form a coherent narrative or even attempt to draw the arc of Eberhardt’s life.

It’s a very personal response, and that’s reflected not just in Mazzoli’s music but in the imagery created by her collaborator, the filmmaker Stephen Taylor, that was used in the original NYC production, and in subsequent productions for many years after (Mazzoli started work with Taylor before librettist Royce Vavrek came on board). The challenge then was to craft our own personal response, not just to this extraordinary historical figure but to Mazzoli’s music and the lightly abstracted libretto by Vavrek.

In the end it was Eberhardt’s homelessness that was the key for me. For all her bravado, when you read her diaries it’s clear that Eberhardt was a homeless person. She made the most of her circumstances, but she lived precariously, often scrabbling for food, shelter and clean drinking water.  

We understand homelessness. There’s a housing crisis afoot and it’s all about us. Song from the Uproar isn’t about the lived reality of homelessness, yet it’s through that lens that we can get closer to the remarkable Isabelle Eberhardt.

Beng Oh
October 2025