Horror & Opera, brainchild of Siberian-born classically trained operatic singer, multi-instrumentalist, experimental electronic musician, and multi-disciplinary mixed-media artist, Alia Synesthesia, premieres the track “Incantation”, launching the new immersive multimedia release, “The Lost Opera“.

An immersive, multimedia storytelling event, “The Lost Opera” by Horror & Opera is a ‘Haunted Box’ project, combining audio drama and an operatic composition, “Mortuus Messis”, with both physical artifacts and digital media. “The Lost Opera” tells the story of a mysterious opera known as “Mortuus Messis”, thought to have been lost forever, and the research of the passionate PhD student determined to uncover its secrets.

Project mastermind, Alia Synesthesia of Horror & Opera, says: “There’s something captivating about uncovering lost histories, hidden stories, and forgotten art. For the past year, I’ve been immersed in half composition, half research project that taps into a myriad of exciting for me themes, blends fact and fiction, myth and reality. Today, I’m excited to share the culmination of that journey: The Lost Opera Project – an exploration into the hauntingly beautiful and enigmatic world of Mortuus Messis, an opera that was performed just once in 1916 in Blackwater, Massachusetts, before vanishing into obscurity.”

The Lost Opera ‘Haunted Box’ is made available in both fully virtual (digital) and physical forms. The digital version includes audio downloads of both the opera itself, and the protagonist’s dissertation tapes, along with digital artifacts. The physical version of the box includes everything available in digital form, as well as physical cassette tapes, photographs, letters, and other ephemera.

About Alia Synesthesia aka Horror & Opera

The Lost Opera by Horror & Opera is composed, performed, produced, mixed and mastered by Siberian-born artist Alia Synesthesia; a classically-trained operatic singer, multi-instrumentalist, experimental electronic musician, and multi-disciplinary mixed-media artist, now based in Toronto, Canada.

Alia was born in Yakutsk (Sakha Republic), where she began her formal musical education at the age of 6. Alia started making electronic music in 2011, inspired and influenced by acts like Skinny Puppy, Depeche Mode, Chelsea Wolfe, and others.

Her music blends elements from classical music to musique concrète; from blackmetal to progressive rock; from synthpop to darkwave; from industrial to dark ambience.

Since 2017, Alia has toured from Hawaii to New Zealand and Japan, and as a live touring member Attrition. She is about to join this UK act as they embark on their first ever tour of Australia, and a return trip to New Zealand, from 24 October – 9 November 2024.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.

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