Giant Opera Stage in the Middle of a Lake

Floating above the water on Austria's Lake Constance is one of the most impressive opera sets ever designed. The Bregenz Festival has been creating these sets since 1946 for its trademark Opera on the Lake production, which has a 6,800 seating capacity.

The magnificent set featured here is from André Chénier, the most famous work by the Italian composer Umberto Giordano. Set against the background of the French Revolution in 1789, the opera is a passionate love story and historical thriller based on the life of a real historical character - a French poet who got caught up in the turmoil of the French Revolution, first as an ardent supporter and then as a victim, mercilessly persecuted and ultimately sent to the guillotine.

The opera stages are built on a fixed "concrete core" that is anchored in the lake. The floating stage must be two-thirds larger than normal so it doesn't get swallowed up by its natural surroundings. Wooden piles are driven into the bed of the lake to support any additional structures the stage set may require, and everything must be waterproof to withstand the extreme weather during the two-year production runs.

Photo credit: Bregenzer Festspiele / Karl Forster
Bregenz Festival's website
via [Twisted Sifter]

Tags: André Chénier, Bregenz Festival, Giant Opera Set on the Lake, Lake Constance

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Comment by Alyssa Anda on August 10, 2011 at 11:15am: @Thomas-Thanks for sharing! :)

Comment by Thomas Mathis on August 10, 2011 at 8:23am: Here you can find some pictures of the earlier stages in Bregenz and a little bit of history....

Comment by Thomas Mathis on August 10, 2011 at 8:15am: This is right where i life.
The stage is redesigned each 2 years. One of the last set was very spectacular too and got famous as shooting location for the James Bond movie " Quantum of Solace"

Comment by sAm on August 8, 2011 at 3:46pm: Out of this world!

Comment by Alyssa Anda on August 5, 2011 at 11:24am: This is impressive!

Comment by anna maria lopez lopez on August 5, 2011 at 5:19am: OMG! The most amazing opera stage I´ve ever seen! I wish I was in Austria to see it!!