A performance The Damnation of Faust at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow by the Astrakhan Opera and Ballet company saw Allen & Heath’s dLive S Class mixing system taking an operatic role recently.
The production, which has been nominated for the Russian national theatre award, The Golden Mask, used a DM48 MixRack and S3000 Surface, which was used as the FOH and monitor system, which was provided by MixArt. A DX32 expander rack was installed in the orchestra pit to enable local connection of multiple orchestra microphones, and the DM48 was equipped with a Waves network card to allow multitrack recording and virtual soundchecking. There was also an A&H IP8 remote controller for management of special sound FX and playback.
‘At rehearsals I controlled the dLive system using the S3000 installed in the centre of the audience,’ comments Vadim Shcherbakov, director of MixArt’s Southern branch. ‘Before the performance we put the S3000 backstage, and I managed the sound using only a laptop with dLive Director and an iPad with the MixPad app.’
‘In opera, it’s very important that technical innovations do their work without impacting on the character of sound,’ says Valery Voronin, Art Director and Chief Conductor of the Astrakhan Theater of Opera and Ballet. ‘I still believe in the old-fashioned idea that opera is better off without sound reinforcement, so I was especially happy to hear clear and natural sound.’
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