The piece with music based on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons was originally performed in 2020 at the Rome Opera House. After a two-year Covid interruption, the touring program resumed in Bologna in 2022 with a re-worked version optimized for touring, which also played later in the year in Bari, and at the Palais des Congrès in Paris in January 2023.

Lighting challenges in Bologna included a large 14 metre-wide by 8-metre high LED back wall, made up from 3.9mm product, which relayed narrative threads and abstract content created by Edmondo Angelelli under Alessandro’s direction.

“With such a prominent LED wall, the greatest challenge is always creating a harmony between the projections and lighting the artists, which is why I relied on Robe without hesitation,” says Alessandro who chose 12 x T1 Profiles, 16 x Spiider LED wash beams and 14 x DLS Profiles which integrated perfectly with this digital backdrop.

The Robe fixtures were picked to integrate perfectly with the screen and stage, and using Capture software, Alessandro worked out the optimal positions and angles needed for each of the lights to highlight the performers and deliver maximum imaginative impact.

To add depth to the stage space, four of the DL4S Profiles were deployed along the sides, close to floor to colour and texture the surface so the audience could experience a more immersive environment with this ‘double depth’ effect. It also created a tangible ‘separation’ between the real and the screen action.

The four upstage overhead LX bars were used for positioning the 16 x Spiiders, 12 x T1 Profiles and the 10 remaining DL4S fixtures.

All these fixtures were chosen for their “light weight, reliability, high colour rendering and excellent range of colour corrected whites.”

Alessandro had previously used T1 Profiles for a production of “Nutcracker Ballet” directed and choreographed by Luciano Cannito, but this was primarily for artistic and creative effects like shuttering and stage wide gobo projections as well as to create full and “wonderful” washes filling the floor with smooth and uniform colour.

Impressed with their performance, he definitely wanted them again for this show.

The 10 overhead DL4Ss were used for accurate shuttering effects on the artists in addition to the T1 Profiles and the other DL4Ss in the static boom positions down below.

During the show’s finale to achieve a rising sun effect, PARs positioned on the fourth upstage bar augmented the look. “It is older technology that still has a place and tours very well,” stated Alessandro, further underlining that it was precisely because the show was touring that he also had “no doubts” in choosing Robe products.

The Robe fixtures for the Bologna shows were provided by rental company M.A.C. Services run by Maximiliano Caso which is the regular technical supplier – lighting, audio, and video – for Teatro Comunale. The venue stages many productions including drama, dance, live music, events and conventions.

Maximiliano worked hard to source and provision the exact equipment Alessandro wanted for this production in a very short time. “It was one of the first post-Covid productions, so finding all these products was not that simple,” explained Alessandro, but Maximiliano pulled out ‘all the stops’ to make it happen.

Alessandro really enjoyed working on the show and being part of a collaborative team once again, producing an entertaining live piece that was enjoyed by so many people.

“Long may it continue,” he concluded.

Photo Credit: Vincenzo Cositore