Forest Opera
Encyclopedia
The Forest Opera is a large, open-air amphitheatre
located in Sopot
, Poland, with a capacity of 4400 seats, the large orchestra pit can contain up to 110 musicians.
Built in 1909, the amphitheatre is used for various entertainment events and shows, including opera
performances and song festivals. After World War I and almost till end of World War II it was a place of famous operatic festivals of high artistic rank (Zoppot Festspiele) and Sopot was recognized throughout Europe and frequently labelled as the Bayreuth of the North. Here then mostly Wagnerian operas and his music dramas were performed regularly each year.
After World War II the Baltic State Opera
performed at the Forest Opera few performances each year between 1962 and 1977 (Aida
in 1962, Halka
in 1964, Der Zigeunerbaron in 1965, Swan Lake
in 1968, Die Fledermaus
in 1977), and sporadically outside this range (Tannhäuser
in 2000).
Each year, starting from 1964 (with some interruption in early 1980s), the Sopot International Song Festival
takes place at the Forest Opera, events being organized by the Ministry of Culture and Art in cooperation with the Polish Artistic Agency (PAGART). It was the most prestigious music event in the Eastern Europe, transmitted then to the eastern block countries via Polish television. Starting in 1994 the Polish Television Public Company became the producer of the festival.
Among some of the most famous ensembles, on June 28, 2001, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra under James Levine
gave a concert at the Forest Opera.
An attempt was made to reactivate the once famous Sopot Wagner Festival on the 100th anniversary of the Forest Opera's creation (July 20, 2009), with the special event of a single concert performance of Das Rheingold
, conducted by Jan Latham-Konig-for the first time since the end of 1930s. The announced intention of the organizers is staging the remaining parts of Der Ring des Nibelungen
in Sopot (including some of them in the Forest Opera) within the next few years.
Starting in the fall of 2009 Sopot Forest Opera was under extensive renovation and modernization which, according to estimates, will take at least till May of 2012 to complete.
Amphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
located in Sopot
Sopot
Sopot is a seaside town in Eastern Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000....
, Poland, with a capacity of 4400 seats, the large orchestra pit can contain up to 110 musicians.
Built in 1909, the amphitheatre is used for various entertainment events and shows, including opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
performances and song festivals. After World War I and almost till end of World War II it was a place of famous operatic festivals of high artistic rank (Zoppot Festspiele) and Sopot was recognized throughout Europe and frequently labelled as the Bayreuth of the North. Here then mostly Wagnerian operas and his music dramas were performed regularly each year.
After World War II the Baltic State Opera
Baltic State Opera
The Baltic State Opera is an opera company in Gdańsk, Poland which performs in the Baltic State Opera House.Originally, in 1949, it was organized as an Opera-Studio rather than as a full scale opera company...
performed at the Forest Opera few performances each year between 1962 and 1977 (Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
in 1962, Halka
Halka
Halka is an opera by the Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko. The libretto was by Wlodzimierz Wolski , a young Warsaw poet with radical social views. It is part of the canon of Polish national operas.-Performance history:...
in 1964, Der Zigeunerbaron in 1965, Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
in 1968, Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
in 1977), and sporadically outside this range (Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
in 2000).
Each year, starting from 1964 (with some interruption in early 1980s), the Sopot International Song Festival
Sopot International Song Festival
The Sopot International Song Festival is an international song contest held in Sopot, Poland. It was the biggest Polish music festival altogether with the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole, and one of the biggest annual song contest in Europe...
takes place at the Forest Opera, events being organized by the Ministry of Culture and Art in cooperation with the Polish Artistic Agency (PAGART). It was the most prestigious music event in the Eastern Europe, transmitted then to the eastern block countries via Polish television. Starting in 1994 the Polish Television Public Company became the producer of the festival.
Among some of the most famous ensembles, on June 28, 2001, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra under James Levine
James Levine
James Lawrence Levine is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of May 2011 he has...
gave a concert at the Forest Opera.
An attempt was made to reactivate the once famous Sopot Wagner Festival on the 100th anniversary of the Forest Opera's creation (July 20, 2009), with the special event of a single concert performance of Das Rheingold
Das Rheingold
is the first of the four operas that constitute Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen . It was originally written as an introduction to the tripartite Ring, but the cycle is now generally regarded as consisting of four individual operas.Das Rheingold received its premiere at the National Theatre...
, conducted by Jan Latham-Konig-for the first time since the end of 1930s. The announced intention of the organizers is staging the remaining parts of Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
in Sopot (including some of them in the Forest Opera) within the next few years.
Starting in the fall of 2009 Sopot Forest Opera was under extensive renovation and modernization which, according to estimates, will take at least till May of 2012 to complete.
History of performances in Zoppot Festspiele
- 1921 FidelioFidelioFidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
- 1922 SiegfriedSiegfried (opera)Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring...
- 1924 Die WalküreDie WalküreDie Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
- 1925 TannhäuserTannhäuser (opera)Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
- 1926 LohengrinLohengrin (opera)Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
- 1927 GötterdämmerungGötterdämmerungis the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen...
- 1928 ParsifalParsifalParsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
- 1929 Die Meistersinger von NürnbergDie Meistersinger von NürnbergDie Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is among the longest operas still commonly performed today, usually taking around four and a half hours. It was first performed at the Königliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich, on June 21,...
- 1931 Der Ring des Nibelungen (the cycle without Das Rheingold)
- 1932 Lohengrin
- 1933 Tannhäuser
- 1934 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Die Walküre
- 1935 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and RienziRienziRienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen is an early opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name . The title is commonly shortened to Rienzi...
- 1936 Parsifal and Rienzi
- 1937 Parsifal and Lohengrin
- 1938 Lohengrin and Der Ring des Nibelungen (whole cycle)
- 1939 Tannhäuser and Der Ring des Nibelungen (whole cycle)
- 1940 Tannhäuser and Der Fliegende Holländer
- 1941 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
- 1942 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Siegfried
- 1944 Siegfried