The Kleines Festspielhaus was opened in 1925 but proved to be too small for the city of Mozart. In 1960, therefore, the much larger Großes Festspielhaus was opened. Its 100m wide stage (including side stages) and space for a 2,173-strong audience makes this one of the largest stages in the world.
Alongside traditional lighting control elements, Salzburg decided to upgrade the stage lighting itself, and the venue has become the first European theatre to order the automated Source Four Revolution luminaires from ETC. The regional head of general contractor Siemens Bacon, explained the decision to use the Revolution moving lights: "These moving lights have been designed specifically for use in theatres and concert halls and are ideal for meeting the requirements of the Festspielhaus. They are virtually silent when moving, provide an extremely high light yield, and yet are very simple to maintain. In addition, the integrated dimmers mean that we can use existing dimmer circuits for conventional lighting. And most importantly, the modular nature of the system means that the customer only needs to purchase the features they really need and which fit into their budget."
In total, eight Source Four Revolution luminaires will be installed in the Großes Festspielhaus. The basic functionality of the unit includes a 16° - 36° zoom capability, with an Internal Media Frame and integrated colour scrollers and dimmers. Salzburg lighting technicians will also have a range of modules at their fingertips to include the Iris Module, Static Wheel Module, Rotating Wheel Module and Shutter Module.
Hermann Sorger at Lighting Innovations, ETC's distributor in Austria, is looking forward to seeing the moving lights installed as part of the renovation process in May 2004. The Source Four Revolution will be available as of March this year.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
