The Bregenzer Festival
Bregenzer Festspiele (Bregenz Festival) is a performing arts festival which is held every July and August in Bregenz, Austria. Founded in 1946, the festival presents a wide variety of musical and theatrical events in several venues: Seebühne (or floating stage), with 7,000 seats, is the main stage for Bregenzer Festivals. It hosts large-scale opera or musical performances on a stage over water on the shores of Lake Constance.
Opera or musical productions on the floating stage generally tend to come from the popular operatic repertoire, but often are extravagantly original and innovative productions/ stagings, frequently using the waters of the lake as an extension of the stage. Recent productions have included Aida by Giuseppe Verdi in 2009 & 2010; Tosca by Giacomo Puccini in 2007-2008; Il trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi in 2005-2006; West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein in 2003-2004 La bohème by Giacomo Puccini in 2001-2002, and “Ein Maskenball” Un ballo in maschera by Giuseppe Verdi in 1999-2000.
Since December 2003, David Pountney has been the artistic director of the festival. In 2010, the festival offered about 100 performances that drew an audience of close to 200,000.
