UK’s Dazzling Classical Spectacular

In late December at London’s Royal Albert Hall the modern Son-et-Lumiere known as Classical Spectacular celebrated its 200th show beneath a large MAC rig. Martin lights have been a part of the Spectacular show for years now with lighting designer Durham Marenghi again at the helm.

“We strive to give the audience a visual accompaniment to the music to which they listen,” comments Durham. “The lighting shifts from subtle beautification of the Royal Albert Hall architecture to dramatic impact driven by the mood of the piece. Classical music purists might decry the use of such technology but the music in the program was often originally written for firework displays, large scale military events or grand royal and civic occasions, all of which had an important visual element. We seek to replace this with lighting to entertain our audience.

“The core principle of the show is absolute synchronicity and sympathy with the score - any gratuitous or misplaced effect destroys the whole presentation. It is difficult to describe over one hundred moving lights and powerful lasers as subliminal but the audience must not notice the lighting as an entity unto itself therefore the reliability of the obedient lights and their ability to accurately reproduce the programmed effect is fundamental to the show's success.”

That obedient lighting system is made up of 18 MAC 2000 Washes, 15 MAC 700 Profiles on the rig with a further 8 at floor level, 49 MAC 600 washlights and 14 MAC 300 washlights as truss toners along with LED battens. Each season sees a new truss structure designed by Durham to give the show a larger visible presence than just an orchestra and choir which, especially in the arenas, can be quite a narrow picture. The orchestra and truss architecture is connected by light, made visible by 4 haze and 3 blown smoke machines. There is one Par can on the rig to light the conductor should the unthinkable occur!

The lighting system is supplied by Stage Electrics under the leadership of John Wallace and Simon Baker. The rigging is supplied by LSD/Fourth Phase and supervised by Nigel Taylor. The lasers are supplied by Definitive lasers and programmed by Gerry Leitch and Will Hitchins.

Durham remarks, “One of the remarkable aspects of the Stage Electrics system is the preparation of the Martin equipment whereby all the lamps are checked and chosen for their color temperature rather than their lamp life which gives a superb uniform white light look which is not as common as it perhaps should be.

“The MAC 700 spots are nice and bright and have now replaced the MAC 2000 Profiles. The Martin units have proved to be very reliable. We look forward to the next generation of 1200 W profiles.”

Rehearsal time is at a premium due to cost of venue and a large orchestra and choir, Durham says, therefore pre-programming is essential if they are to use the technology hired by the producer to anywhere near it's full potential. Classical Spectacular is programmed in it's entirety off site in the virtual world with John Sinden programming.

Some five hundred cues are created and recorded to be called back live by Durham during the concert. “This virtual program is connected to the real lighting system on the morning of the first performance and we spend a couple of hours checking focus positions, focus sharpness and timing dynamics. We then allow the orchestra to rehearse in relatively calm lighting and open Pandora's Box in the evening for the first night audience.”

To see more photos of this event and of Durham's other work visit www.durhamld.com.