Staged for world leaders alongside the China G20 Summit and directed by Zhang Yimou, the public debut of Enduring Memories of Hangzhou took place at the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province where it retained much original programme content and added a new audio system.
A cultural fusion of East and West, the production features a symphony orchestra and gala on water, and is a unique outdoor concert in a natural setting. Through a significant feat of engineering, the stage platform lies centimetres below the West Lake’s surface. To the audience, the actors appear to be performing on the surface of the water, which also creates a reflection of the performance and lighting.
The main mixing system for the event comprised an Allen & Heath S7000 Surface with DM64 MixRack. ‘dLive is perfectly designed for live shows ,’ says Tao Zhang, audio system designer of the show. ‘For a high-profile performance like this, we can’t afford to have any problems. dLive is reliable and ideal for this application.’
The entire stage – covering an area of 8,000-sq-m divided into three main performance zones spaced significantly apart – posed a great challenge for the monitor system set-up.
Community R Series loudspeakers were selected for stage monitoring – with six R.5 loudspeakers located on the glass walkway along the lakeside to cover the main stage for the symphony orchestra and the choir; four R.25 loudspeakers on the Jiuqu Zigzag Bridge to provide monitoring for the children’s chorus; and R.5, R.25 and R.15 loudspeakers distributed along the boardwalks surrounding the whole performance area to provide monitoring for the dancers.
‘The biggest advantage of R Series is that they are horn-loaded and weather-resistant,’ says Tao Zhang. ‘This means that they provide the SPL required and give us confidence of reliability, even when it rains. Community R Series is the ideal choice for such an application.’
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