The event was the Danish Radio Concert Orchestra's musical version of Matador, which played to sold out audiences at Copenhagen's Operaen for three weeks in June. With 35,000 tickets sold for the 22 performances, Pedersen needed ultra-reliability from a console, as well as one that could handle an extremely complex production. He chose the DiGiCo D5T supplied by European Tour Production, Copenhagen.
Named after the Danish word for a business magnate, Matador aired on Danish television between 1978 and 1981, but has been regularly repeated and issued on video / DVD since. Set in the fictional Danish town of Korsbaek between 1929 and 1947 and telling the story of a struggle between two of the town's high profile families, it is an icon of the country's dramatic output and so the musical version was always going to be a major event.
"On similar large-scale events in the past, I have been forced to use two or three analogue or digital consoles," says Pedersen. "This time, however, I was determined to be able to do everything on just one. I have used DiGiCo D5s at both FOH and monitor positions on events for Danish Radio, so I was familiar with its flexibility and excellent sound quality," he continues. "The D5T is the only console that gives me those advantages, plus allows me to do all the monitor mixes on one surface."
(Jim Evans)
