The Teatro Comunale di Bologna was designed in the 17th century by Antonio Galli da Bibbiena, and was the first opera house to be built with public funds and hired out by the city council. Its bell-shaped auditorium consists of four tiers of boxes with a royal box and gallery. During its history, it has put on works by practically all the major composers, including Rossini, Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, Mozart and Donizetti.
Around the end of 2009, the lighting department managers / lighting designers Daniele Naldi and Andrea Oliva felt the need for a larger number of lights. Once they received the go-ahead and fixed budget from the Bologna city council, they turned to the major motorised spotlight manufacturers.
The Clay Paky Sales Manager for Italy Renato Ferrari and the Clay Paky lighting designer Marco Zucchinali went to Bologna and held a demo for the opera house technical staff. "We were very keen to get the whole lighting staff involved," said Naldi and Oliva, "not just us, but everyone, including the lighting desk operator Lorenzo Gaudenzi, and all the stagehands. We wanted them all to give us their opinions according to their specific roles so that everyone would agree on the final choice."
The opera house technical team carried out meticulous noise level tests on all the spotlights under examination and found the Clay Paky Alphas to be the most silent in all working conditions.
After this they assessed various other basic parameters - luminous efficiency and light quality, flexibility of use and - last but not least - compliance with the available budget.
Daniele Naldi comments, "Our first work with Alphas was Salome, directed by Gabriele Lavia. The Alpha Washes were perfect from all points of view. I had absolutely no problems. I particularly appreciated the amount of light delivered and the very linear colour change. You do not notice the changeover from one shade to another. The Alpha Profiles were used to shape beams with precision, and in some scenes they were absolutely irreplaceable."
Lighting desk operator Lorenzo Gaudenzi adds, "The Clay Paky Alphas have proved to be extremely easy to use and program. They interface perfectly with the remote control desk, and even the odd bit of maintenance they need is easily and effectively manageable."
(Jim Evans)
