The Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland has just announced its 2027 programme. Next year, the festival’s international guest will be the Estonian National Opera, which will bring Bizet’s opera Carmen to Finnish audiences. The production, directed by French stage director Pierre-Emmanuel Rousseau, premiered at the Estonian National Opera in 2024 and will also mark 40 years since the company’s first guest appearance at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. The Estonian National Opera’s performances on the Olavinlinna Castle stage in July 2027 will be conducted by the company’s Artistic Director and Chief Conductor, Arvo Volmer.

In summer 2027, the Savonlinna Opera Festival will celebrate its 115th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the festival will stage Umberto Giordano’s operatic thriller Andrea Chénier, while audience favourites The Barber of Seville and The Magic Flute will also feature in the programme. The Estonian National Opera, which in 1987 became the first international guest company at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, will bring a fresh and passionate production of Carmen to the Olavinlinna stage.

According to Festival Director Ville Matvejeff, there will be three reasons to celebrate in 2027: “115 years ago, the great figure of Finnish opera, soprano Aino Ackté, founded the Savonlinna Opera Festival; 60 years ago, the festival was relaunched after a long break; and 40 years ago, in 1987, the festival’s first international guest company was Estonia Theatre from Tallinn, which now returns to celebrate 40 years of international guest performances.”

The legendary Estonian opera figure Arne Mikk recalls how the guest appearance 40 years ago came about: “I had the good fortune to see opera performances in Savonlinna for the first time in 1984. At the time, Mati Palm was singing the title role in The Flying Dutchman, and our host was Festival Director Pentti Savolainen. Before leaving, I thanked him and made a small suggestion: ‘Why couldn’t the whole Estonia Theatre come to Savonlinna?’ And in the end, that is exactly what happened. All the performances were conducted by Eri Klas, and there were also several concerts, the grandest of them undoubtedly the performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 as a joint project between neighbouring countries. The visit by the Estonians marked the beginning of regular guest appearances by international companies in Savonlinna. And now it is time to add a new chapter to those distant events,” says the long-serving Artistic Director of Estonia Theatre.

“For Estonian National Opera, the invitation to Savonlinna is certainly a sign that our theatre and its quality have been noticed internationally and are held in high regard,” says Ott Maaten, Director General of the Estonian National Opera. “After all, this is one of the world’s best-known festivals, whose work has also been recognised with an International Opera Award.”

The Savonlinna Opera Festival is regarded as Finland’s best-known international cultural event. General ticket sales for the opera festival will begin on 23 June at 10 a.m.

Photo by Siim Vahur