Opera Lesna

The Forest Opera was cut into a wooded hillside above Sopot in 1909 as an open-air theatre, and between 1922 and 1942 it ran a Wagner festival that drew audiences from across Germany, staging the Ring cycle in the trees. From 1964 it became the home of the Sopot International Song Festival, founded in 1961 and broadcast across Eastern Europe, which brought Western pop acts to Sopot and is still held. The amphitheatre now seats about five thousand under a tensile membrane roof added in 2011-2012 that keeps the rain off without closing the sides, so the forest is still part of the setting and sound carries out of it. It is used for concerts through the summer across genres. Getting there is a walk uphill through the woods from the Sopot promenade, which is part of the experience.

History

The amphitheatre was built in 1909, when Sopot belonged to Germany, and for decades it held opera festivals, mostly of Wagner, that earned Sopot the name "Bayreuth of the North". The Baltic State Opera staged performances here from 1962 to 1977, the Sopot International Song Festival has been held here since 1964, and the theatre was renovated and modernised from September 2009 to June 2012 (Wikipedia, Forest Opera).

What you'll find

• A theatre in the forest - cut into the hillside in 1909, with trees around the stage.
• The Wagner years - the Ring staged here between the wars.
• The Sopot festival - held here since 1964, with Western and Polish acts.
• A membrane roof - added in 2011-2012, leaving the sides open.

When to go

June to September, for the concerts. An evening.

Practical notes

There is nothing to see outside event days - it is a venue, not a monument. The walk up is steep. Evenings get cold even in summer. Tickets for the big festival sell out early.

Nearby

Sopot pier and the promenade are downhill; the Tricity landscape park is above.

Key facts