Forest Opera technical info
The beginnings of the Forest Opera
The Forest Opera is an amphitheatre located in a forest valley. Its history dates back to 1909.
During one of his walks on the forest hills surrounding Sopot, several hundred metres off the Prądka Valley (Dolina Prądki), Paul Walther-Schaffer, bandmaster of the music theatre at the Coal Market in Gdańsk, discovered a spacious clearing surrounded by steep hills with old trees. After an extensive search he had finally found a perfect place where he could realise his dream idea - the creation of a stage outdoors which would be characterised by perfect acoustics as well as a beautiful landscape around it. He managed to persuade Max Woldmann, mayor of Sopot, to support his idea. Several days later he showed him his "discovery". It was thanks to Woldmann's persistence that a permit to build the new amphitheatre was obtained. The works were commenced in 1909. The stage had been designed by Paul Walther-Schaffer and the construction was supervised by Paul Püchmüller, the then City Construction Master, who in 1904 had become famous for the building of the Southern Baths (Łazienki Południowe) in Sopot. Four months later the Forest Opera was ready for its first guests.
The opening celebration of the Forest Opera took place on 11 August 1909 followed the same night at 7 pm by Conradin Kreutzer's "The Night Camp in Granada". The orchestra was conducted by Emil Schwartz of Gdańsk, and the whole event was supervised by the initiator and co-creator of the new venue, Paul Walther-Schaffer.
Until World War I the venue was used occasionally, as only several operas had been staged there.
Between the wars
In 1921 people heard about the Forest Opera again. Two anniversaries were celebrated that year: the 150th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven's birthday and the 10th anniversary of the venue's consecration. These two jubilees were marked by the staging of "Fidelio". The year 1922 turned out to be a breakthrough year for the venue, when the committee for forest games decided to stage Richard Wagner's opera "Siegfried" and the artistic directorship was conferred upon the bandmaster Schreiber. The high artistic level of the performance prompted enthusiastic reviews of the German critics, resulting in a decision to organise Wagnerian festivals each year. The next world premiere (Richard Wagner's "Valkyrie") took place in 1924. The possibility to bring to Sopot excellent Wagnerian singers transformed the Forest Opera into a venue with an artistic role way beyond the Free City of Gdańsk.
The modernisation of the Forest Opera and the establishment of a permanent repertoire made it famous all over Europe (from 1922, apart from D'Alberto's "Augun's Lowlands" and Beethoven's "Fidelio", only Richard Wagner's operas were staged). The Forest Opera was called "a second Bayeruth". Only the best singers such as Swen Nilson and Erna Schluter, as well as the world-famous conductors such as Karl Tutein, Roger Heger and Franz von Hoesslin performed on the stage. The choir directed by Stange, and later by Zelazny, enjoyed particular popularity. It was an amateur choir of even over 500 members in its best years, that performed exclusively at the Wagnerian Festival.
The Forest Opera was in full bloom. It boasted an audience area of about four thousand seats and roughly the same number of standing places. The stage was separated from the audience area by a huge, iron net decorated with a drop curtain decorated with plants, which weighed several tonnes and was 12 meters high and 38 meters long.
The war times
Although the Forest Opera was still active during World War II, or at least until 1943, the artistic level of the performances quickly deteriorated. With no more famous artists or elaborate decorations, the audience was mainly made up of soldiers and accidental visitors. Although it resumed its activity directly after the war, until 1961 the venue was only occasionally used.
After the war - the modernisation of the venue
The Forest Opera was literally rescued by the International Song Festival. The first festivals were held in the Gdansk Shipyard hall. This venue was, however, both acoustically unsuitable and not very representative. A proposal was therefore put forward to transfer the festival to the Forest Opera.
On July 1,1964 Mostostal construction crews commenced roofing works. The stilon fabric manufactured in Łódź was transported to Pabianice, where its both sides were covered with rubber and impregnated. The gigantic roof was sewn in Częstochowa. Its surface area was 4750 m2 and it was 90 metres long. The roof, which weighed over 2.5 tonnes, was lifted and fixed on lines and masts at 30 metres. Gallery
The first performance after the roof had been installed took place on July 7, 1964. Moniuszko's "Halka" attracted a large crowd of spectators, who admired the work of the engineers and workers (who had managed to complete the huge construction in a record-breaking period of nine weeks) as well as the mastery of the Baltic Opera artists. The new construction not only safeguarded the Forest Opera against rainfall, it also significantly improved the acoustics of the venue.
At the beginning of 1978 the administration of the venue was taken over by the Baltic Artistic Agency BART. The list of artistic events on offer at the Forest Opera was steadily expanding until the dramatic events in August 1980. After the unsuccessful song festival the Forest Opera was closed for many months. It was not until 1984 that another International Song Festival was held again. Apart from the song festival, a multitude of rock, blues and classical music concerts were played. In 1984, for the first time in the post-war Poland, the Ministry of Culture and Art in collaboration with the Baltic Artistic Agency BART organised almost a fortnight-long Baltic Meeting of Operas and Music Theatres. This time, however, the audience was scarce. On the other hand, the staging of Richard Wagner's "Valkyrie", after several decades, should be considered a sensation.
At present experts consider the Forest Opera as one of the most beautiful and acoustic venues in Europe. The premises cover the area of almost 10 acres, the audience has 4335 seats, the orchestra pit can accommodate 110 musicians. Technical information on the venue
Artists performing at the Forest Opera
Many stars, both Polish and foreign, have performed on the stage of the Forest Opera.
Among the Polish stars were:
Czerwone Gitary, Niebiesko-Czarni, Trubadurzy, Czesław Niemen, Skaldowie, Budka Suflera, KOMBI, Grzegorz Ciechowski, Justyna Steczkowska, Grzegorz Turnau, DE MONO, Natalia Kukulska, Maryla Rodowicz, BAJM, Perfect, Edyta Górniak, Robert Chojnacki, Kayah, Myslovitz, ONA, Kasia Kowalska, Wilki, Golec uOrkiestra, Brathanki, Ich Troje, Blue Cafe and many more.
Of the foreign stars the following merit mentioning:
Gloria Gaynor, Catherina Valente, Udo Jurgens, Karell Gott, Middle Of The Road, Christie, The Temptation, Joan Baez, Johny Cash, Charles Aznavour, Jose Feliciano, KajaGooGoo, Marillion, Colosseum, OMD, Jimmy Sommervile, Annie Lennox, Deep Forest, Kim Wilde, Paul Young, Emmilou Harris, La Bouche, Kelly Family, ZZ Top, Beverly Craven, East 17, Al Bano & Romina Power, Backstreet Boys, The Corrs, James Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire, Ace of Base, Chris Rea, Goran Bregovič, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie, Bryan Adams, UB40, INXS, Zucchero, Garou, Norah Jones, Crowded House, Clannad, Paul Anka.