Website: http://www.bregenzerfestspiele.com/en/

Date: July 21 to August 22, 2010
Country: Austria


The Bregenz Festival was first held in 1946, in which the inaugural performance was staged upon teo barges moored on the Lake Constance. Currently directed by David Pountney, the Festival continues its tradition, presenting a diverse programme including some stunning classical operas and musicals with the specially designed stage on the lake.

This year, the “Opera on the Lake” will present Verdi’s famous work Aida, directed by Graham Vick and stage-designed by Paul Brown, with the co-operation of Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic Choir and Bregenz Festival Chorus. The opera completed in 1968 by the Polish composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg, The Passenger (Die Passagierin), which is based on a novel with the same title by the Polish Holocaust survivor Zofia Posmysz, will also be staged. Another opera by Weinberg, The Portrait, having Libretto by Alexander Medvedev after the short story by Nikolai Gogol, will be first premiered in Austria under the direction of Rossen Gergov. Orchestral concerts, performances for young people and dramas are available as well, featuring troupes such as Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Boys’ Choir and Chamber orchestra of Novosibirsk Opera, MusicAeterna.