Even though the festival receives little in the way of public funding, organizers also try to produce new Finnish operas.
"The main intention is to present the gems of the classics and as many Finnish operas as possible. We seek rarities to the programme from visiting companies that otherwise it would not be possible to present. So, the policy remains the same," says Opera Director Jan Hultin.
More than 300 artists from 12 countries will be appearing during the 2011 season of the Savonlinna Opera Festival. About a quarter of the soloists are Finnish.
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the first opera festival held in the city's Olavinlinna Castle.
"This year we will see five opera works, but next year there will be seven. Of those, two will be world premiers. There will also be a bigger investment, a million euros more than this year," Hultin explains.
The Savonlinna Opera Festival is seeing the same phenomenon as the world over - last minute shopping for tickets by fans.
"Tickets have been selling at a slower pace than last year. Year after year, the trend has been for people to make a decision to attend later and later, and so it seems again this year. At the moment, sales are quite brisk," Jan Hultin notes.
"Performances of Don Giovanni are clearly a favourite. Or, one could say that tickets for the five performances are almost sold out. Of course, the most tickets have been sold for Tosca, but there are eight performances of Tosca and plenty of room left."
Mozart's Don Giovanni kicks off the 2011 Savonlinna Opera Festival on Friday evening.