Glyndebourne's lighting manager, Keith 'KB' Benson, organized a head-to-head 'luminaire shootout' when the venue's management decided to make its first long-term investment in automated lighting. He explains: "We've used generics for years because I never felt that the moving light for opera was there, although we have tried a few - we used a couple of 2K PCs for a few years and they performed pretty well. But we have never really gone for anything else; I am not so keen, personally, on colour mixing, as it can be difficult to get a really pure specific colour. But using automated lights makes sense to save refocusing time, and we have some awkward lighting positions to get to.
"It came to a head last winter when the director and designer wanted a forestage that moved out over the pit for a new production. This wasn't physically possible, so it was decided with lighting designer Peter Mumford to achieve the effect by sweeping a block of light forward using a moving luminaire. I felt now was the time 'to make a commitment to movers', and the decision needed to become a long-term one, and to find a good workhorse for us.
"We looked at a number of units - and noise is a huge factor for us. So I did a luminaire shootout with several leading brands including the Warp/M and I put them all through their paces - and at the end of the day it was the new Warp/M that came up trumps.
"Dave Locker, Glyndebourne's technical director, and I chose the Warp/M because it is totally silent and is as bright, if not brighter than, the competition. The fact that you can network them means that diagnostics can be done from down in the staff room or from ADB's home base. Another factor was controllability from our lighting desks: the way the Warps move onto the controls on the consoles is superb, as is the way the shutters work. We're delighted to be the first in the UK with the Warp/M."
The WARP/M made its Glyndebourne début on Peter Hall's new production of La Cenerentola with lighting design by Peter Mumford. The Warp/M has also recently been installed at the La Scala opera house in Milan.
