Tragedy Opera

National Sawdust

with Julia Holter, Yelena Zhelezov and Wild Up

Tragedy is an operatic staging of Julia Holter’s 2011 album. The original recording of Tragedy consists of layers of melodic songs, found sound, and atmospheric instrumental music—an emotional collaged response to Euripedes’ classic Hippolytus in a contemporary female voice. The opera brings the sounds from the record (recorded all and mostly performed by Julia in relatively low-fidelity) into a live setting of new arrangements for Holter, Zhelezov, Moore, and the ensemble Wild Up.  

Tragedy encounters the complexities of contemporary shame, loss of empathy, and our inability to see ourselves and one another clearly. The staging layers vocals, gestural movement, multiple channels of video (both live and sourced content) and performing objects to create a haunting visual and emotional landscape.