In the summer of 2022 we had the pleasure of visiting Seebühne Bregenz, an impressive outdoor theatre that is world famous for its spectacular location and amazing productions. During our visit preparations were underway for their production of Madama Butterfly.
Seebühne Bregenz is the birthplace of the Bregenzer Festspiele, a performing arts festival held every summer in Bregenz since 1946. The festival became an international event in its first year, one year after World War II. Two stages were created out of floating barges - one for the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and one for the stage structures.
Seebühne is the floating stage that is the most famous of all stages included in the Bregenzer Festspiele. With a 7,000 seat open-air amphitheatre, it´s the location for large-scale opera or musical performances on a stage over water. The floating stage often has astonishing stage constructions and uses the waters of Lake Constance as an extension of the stage.
Recent productions have included Carmen by Georges Bizet in 2017, Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi in 2019, Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini in 2022 and Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber in 2024.
The Wiener Symphoniker have spent every summer as orchestra in residence at Lake Bodensee since the Bregenzer Festspiele was founded in 1946, over 79 years ago. For about one and a half months, the musicians move their lives to their second home in Bregenz.
Film buffs will know that scenes for the 22nd James Bond film Quantum of Solace were filmed at Seebühne Bregenz, featuring a performance of Tosca. The entire stage was rebuilt just for this occasion in 2008.