Savonlinna Opera Festival
The Savonlinna Opera Festival is a multi -week opera festival which takes place every year in the Finnish town of Savonlinna. Scene of the large open-air presentations is the courtyard of medieval castle Olavinlinna which is surrounded by a lake and in the covered auditorium can accommodate more than 2,200 visitors. In the in 2002 newly built and designed for nearly 800 spectators Auditorium of Savonlinna Hall more smaller concerts and events.
History
The Opera Festival was founded in 1912 by renowned soprano Aino Ackté under the name Olavinlinna Opera Festival. The already then applied as an open air opera festival presented in the next three years exclusively Finnish works of Melartin, Oskar Merikanto and Pacius. Only in 1916 was listed with Gounod's Faust for the first time a foreign opera. Ackté even sang the role of " Marguerite ", which was many years before her debut in the opera world. After the event paused due to the war. 1930 Aino Ackté was at the time being the last Festival also their last performance as a soprano.
In 1967, the Savonlinna Opera Festival was revived by opera tenor Peter Klein and find since then every year in July. In 1970, the famous Finnish bass Martti Talvela could be won as artistic director of the festival. Within a short time the castle to become the second most important opera house in the country next to the National Opera in Helsinki 320 km away was. The city soon established itself as a venue of the internationally renowned opera festival, which now visit each year more than 60,000 people from all over the world.
In addition to numerous world premieres of Finnish operas ever known international operas are performed, including Tannhäuser, Il trovatore, Salome, The Magic Flute, Boris Godunov, The Rape of Lucretia, Carmen, Tosca, Pimpinone. Own productions go more often while traveling, so a tour of Singapore with Turandot took place in 2003. Since 1987, every year is a foreign opera house guest in Olavinlinna, such as the Mariinsky Theatre, Royal Opera House and the Bolshoi Theatre.
For the 100th anniversary of the foundation of a cross-section of the hundred-year history of the festival in 2012 will be on the program.