Built in 1944, the renewed theatre opened in February with a production of Verdi's A Masked Ball, complete with 21st century lighting technology illuminating the stage's original 1940s furniture. Since Malmö is only a 20-minute drive from Copenhagen via the new Öresund Bridge, ETC's Danish distributor, BICO, handled the installation, commissioning, training and project management together with ETC regional manager Tim Stokholm and field project manager Jeremy Roberts.
ETC has installed five IES Matrix Mk II dimmer racks for the main stage, four racks for the smaller Intim stage and one rack for the workshop stage. The racks are the latest technology IES SineWave dimming, while the 29 IES SineWave PowerBar dimmers are each capable of supporting six 2.5kW or three 5kW fixtures. Meanwhile, ETC's DimSTAT software provides dynamic load sensing and curve-correction options, with instant diagnosis of dimmer faults.Malmö Opera's Avab VLC system was also upgraded to handle more DMX universes and to talk to the Unison system for worklights; an interface was installed for their existing house light system; and the theatre bought several ETC Source Four fixtures and Source Four Revolution moving heads.
Malmö Opera has always been respected for the high quality of its artistic inventions and technical production. Indeed, one of the first stage managers was Ingmar Bergman, who held the position from 1953-1960. Describing itself as "a melting pot for directors, vocalists, librettists, stage designers and conductors", the theatre has one of the largest auditoriums found in the Nordic countries; the stage is one of the largest in Europe.
"It is our intention to be a centre for the musical theatre of tomorrow, even to the extent of developing musical theatre of the highest quality aimed at children," said managing director Göran K Johansson.
"The theatre puts a heavy emphasis on the quality of its productions," says Tim Stokholm. "This means it's vital that the audience hears only the production and not lamp buzz. IES SineWave dimming from ETC is totally silent, because the filaments are less stressed, they work more efficiently and don't have to be replaced as often, saving both time and money."
(Lee Baldock)
