Located in a forest valley this open-air amphitheater is one of Poland’s top concert venues, certainly it’s most picturesque. Home to Poland’s and Communist Europe’s most famous music festival, host to some of the biggest names in world music and currently receiving a huge makeover it is a key element of the town of Sopot. So what’s the story behind it then? Back in 1909 Paul Walther-Schaffer, bandmaster supreme at
the music theatre in Gdansk’s Coal Market, took a walk Sopot way and stumbled across a big clearing hemmed in by steep hills and old trees. ‘Wow, great place to hold a concert’, he no doubt thought. Mayor of Sopot, Max Woldman, agreed and it wasn’t long before a building permit was confirmed. Designed by the bandmaster, and supervised by Paul Püchmüller, construction proceeded at lightning speed, and the finished work was unveiled four months later.

Opening night, August 11, 1909, saw ‘The Night Camp in Granada’ performed, though it was only in the interwar years that the opera finally gained a reputation for top entertainment. That was, thanks in part, to 150th Beethoven Anniversary, a sell-out event which won plaudits from all corners. Not even WWII stopped the show, and while the performances were poor the opera continued to thrive thanks to an appreciative audience made up of soldiers on leave.

The next big step for the Forest Opera came on July 1, 1964. It was then that a giant roof was  ransported from across Poland to cover the stage. Six days later normal service resumed, this time with Halka being the main draw. Yet more improvements lie around the corner, with a bigger roof and over 1,000 extra seats now being installed in time for 2012.

Already considered one of the best acoustic venues in Europe the Forest Opera has seen everyone  from Elton John to the Backstreet Boys, though it’s during the Sopot Festival it really comes to the fore. Founded in 1961 by Wladyslaw Szpilman – best known as the protagonist in Roman Polanski’s Holocaust epic, The Pianist – this music festival sees countless names, both big and small, coming together to perform in what is considered one of Poland’s finest musical fests.