Travelling to the Saaremaa Opera Festival in Different Ways
Text Timo Raussi Photo IMT / Augusto Bizzi
The Saaremaa Opera Days, held from 18 to 25 July, are one of the highlights of Estonia’s summer cultural season. Traditionally staged in the medieval setting of Kuressaare’s episcopal castle, the festival features a different internationally renowned opera company each year. This year’s guest is one of Italy’s most historic opera houses, Teatro Goldoni from Livorno.
Reflecting the performers, the programme includes a selection of well-known, and even more famous, Italian operas: Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata”, Giacomo Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi”, Pietro Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana”, and Gaetano Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore”. Singers from Teatro Goldoni will also headline an Italian film music gala concert on 22 July, as well as the already sold-out opera gala on the festival’s closing day, 25 July. Estonia will be represented by the Vanemuine Theatre, performing the first part of Richard Wagner’s monumental four-opera cycle “Der Ring des Nibelungen”, namely “Das Rheingold”, on 18 July.
Several Finnish travel agencies and tour operators are bringing audiences to the festival through dedicated opera travel packages. Perhaps the most unique of these, at least in scale, is the opera cruise organised by the Ikaalinen Travel Agency from 21 to 23 July, sailing directly from Helsinki to Saaremaa without stopovers or transfers in Tallinn or mainland ferry ports. For its customers, IMT has arranged special onboard programming in cooperation with the Estonian National Opera and has even commissioned a private performance of La Traviata exclusively for cruise participants. More information about the cruise can be found here.
You can also join an Italian opera-themed trip from Finland through Matkapojat or Oopperamatkat.com, a tour operator specialising in classical music trips to Estonia. The latter is run by Klarika Sander-Komulainen, who has taught Estonian to Finns for over 30 years and, as a passionate opera enthusiast, has travelled extensively across Europe attending performances.
For those interested in travelling independently, information about performances of the Saaremaa Opera Days that still have tickets available can be found here. The journey can be made in as little as 40 minutes by flying from Helsinki, as Finnair recently announced it will add a fourth weekly return flight to its Kuressaare route for the summer period from 8 June to 7 August. Flights will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays—but as there are some exceptions in the schedule, it is advisable to check the exact times here.
To learn more about this and similar topicsCruise Culture events Kuressaare music Opera Opera Festival Saaremaa
