The 2001/2002 season at the Cagliari Opera House on the Italian island of Sardinia was a truly ambitious program covering the full range of theatrical performance. Lighting a jazz concert on the proscenium one day, or mounting a full-stage lighting system for an opera the next, lighting such a varied selection of events was no easy task. 

“Choosing luminaires that would allow us to mount an optimal solution for every event was a key concern,” explains Paolo Calanchini, the theater’s stage director. “The Opera House’s success is obviously the result of a combination of contributing factors, but certainly one of the more important elements is use of flexible, state-of-the-art lighting technology. Thanks to the MAC 600 we were able to stage three operas of the calibre of Lucia di Lammermoor, Aida and The Barber of Seville, all of which required a reliable and flexible lighting system.”

Lighting director Marco Mereu remembers “when we took down the staging for Aida and mounted the Barber of Seville in two days. Or when we were alternating theater performances and concerts.”  He adds that this type of approach “requires courage, because it is not always shared by those directors and lighting designers who prefer the conventional spotlight. Generally speaking, the younger directors prefer Martin products.” Mereu notes with a touch of pride that the Cagliari lighting team have often developed solutions that actually improved the director’s original idea regarding a particular color. “Directors have always been extremely satisfied, especially the more avant garde, who often want a strong light that can be precisely placed and shaped.”