Presse

 

14.10.2010 - Wedemark

Aida am Rhein – The Latest Opera Production by Swiss Television Overcomes All Technical Obstacles with Ease

In October 2010 Swiss Television added a new highlight to its spectacular live opera broadcasts. With Aida am Rhein (Aida on the Rhine), television viewers in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy and France were presented with a powerful modern production that yet again raised the bar for audio technical equipment. The opera co-produced by 3Sat and the ZDF theatre channel was performed on the banks of the Rhine around the Mittlere Brücke (Middle Bridge) and in the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois in Basel. With Sennheiser broadcast technology the various live performance locations were brought together to form a harmonious whole for singers, orchestra, choir and television audiences alike. Swiss Television and production company tpc were supported by RF wireless experts from Sennheiser’s Swiss partner, Bleuel electronic AG, and from Sennheiser’s German headquarters.

With the live production Aida am Rhein Swiss Television has set a new standard of excellence. The Les Trois Rois Hotel in Basel and its terrace as well as both banks of the Rhine and a coal barge became a modern backdrop for the Verdi opera. Sandra Studer guided viewers through the opera event. Angeles Blancas (l.) as Aida and Michelle DeYoung as her rival, Amneris. Triumphal scene on the Rhine: for the vocal and music signal the sound technicians at the tpc production company had to cover some 10,000 square metres.

Captivatingly moderated by Sandra Studer, the live performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida turned the Rhine into the Nile and the Les Trois Rois into an Ancient Egyptian temple and royal palace. A barge and a raft on a closed-off section of the Rhine, as well the bank of the river opposite the hotel, were among the settings that a Spider Cam was able to capture with spectacular moving shots of the action. That this time the opera could only really be seen on television screens and that the orchestra played behind closed doors in the Les Trois Rois didn’t bother the live audience at all. They heard the opera stars performing scenes a cappella on the hotel balcony, on the raft and on the shores of the Rhine and were perhaps best able to appreciate the technical wonders of the sound equipment behind the live broadcast. Those who chose viewing points somewhat further away had the opportunity to follow the performance via a standard FM radio station, 88.2, especially created for the production. How the sound came together For the opera stars to be able to sing, the orchestra had to be transmitted to them by means of a wireless monitoring system. The Basel Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Gabriel Feltz – Head Director of the Stuttgart Philharmonic and currently guest conductor at the Theater Basel – worked together with the opera choir and a special choir of the Theater Basel in the historic ballroom of the Les Trois Rois Hotel. The conductor himself could only hear and see the singers by means of headphones and a television monitor. On the set, assistant conductors gave the directions that Gabriel Feltz likewise communicated via monitor and headphones. tpc set up some 300 sound channels (wireless and cable-connected) for the live broadcast. In addition to the 24 wireless microphone channels and the 12 monitor channels, the television team used 12 channels and 150 broadcasting sets, divided into video and audio circuits. “The collaboration for the entire opera was only possible with the in-ear monitoring system,” explains Klaus Willemsen, RF wireless expert at Sennheiser. To bring the sound together, four different monitoring systems were in use. System 1 covered the river area, the hotel terrace and the restaurant, System 2 the other bank of the Rhine and the landing stage. System 3 was responsible for a hotel suite and corridors, and a final system was used for the ballroom, the corridor leading to the reception and the staircase. Because both banks of the Rhine were used the surface that had to be covered by the orchestra and vocal signals was enormous, totalling 10,000 square metres inside and outside the building. “For the transmission we used 95% standard equipment. The rest were customized solutions, especially boosters, that ensured the necessary signal strength for the receivers,” Willemsen added. An advanced network and fail-proof system “The audio team at tpc had to be ready for anything and everything during the live broadcast,” explains Peter Rissi from Bleuel electronic AG. “During the dress rehearsal it was raining and thus there was even more concern that a microphone might fail. For this reason all singers were covered by two microphones and had two bodypack transmitters as well. As a final ‘safety net’ several wireless booms were used, equipped with MKH 416 shotgun microphones and SKP 3000 plug-on transmitters. All the equipment worked to perfection and we never needed to use the back-up system.”

 
Swiss Television sees the event as the last part of a trilogy that began with La Traviata im Hauptbahnhof (La Traviata at the Train Station), followed by La Bohème im Hochhaus (La Bohème at the Tower Block), which was awarded the much coveted Rose d’Or for the best live event broadcast. Perhaps the broadcaster will now be inspired to stage another spectacular live opera?

Wireless equipment for Aida am Rhein:

Transmitters:   
12 SK 250 Bodypack Transmitters
5 SK 5212-II Bodypack Transmitters
9 Headset Microphones
8 MKE 1 Clip-on Microphones
2 SKM 5200-II Handheld Transmitters
5 SKP 3000 Plug-on Transmitters

Receivers:   
30 EM 3732-II Twin Receivers
4 EK 3241 Camera Receivers

Monitoring system: 
20 SR 2050 Twin Transmitters
30 EK 2000 IEM Bodypack Receivers

Plus:    
approx. 800 metres of antenna cable
6 active antenna splitters
16 active antennas
5 passive omni-directional antennas
3 circularly polarised directional antennas
7 antenna combiners
4 UHF amplifiers

The Sennheiser Group, with its headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. The family-owned company, which was established in 1945, recorded sales of around €390 million in 2009. Sennheiser employs more than 2,100 people worldwide, and has manufacturing plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA. The company is represented worldwide by subsidiaries in France, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Japan, China, Canada, Mexico and the USA, as well as by long-term trading partners in many other countries. Also part of the Sennheiser Group are Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones and monitor loudspeakers), and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centres).

Download press release:
Aida_am_Rhein_en.zip (9.3 MB)

You can find all the latest information on Sennheiser by visiting our website at www.sennheiser.com.

Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG
Stephanie Schmidt
Press & PR • Professional Systems & Installed Sound
Am Labor 1 • 30900 Wedemark • Germany
Tel. +49 (51 30) 600 - 275
stephanie.schmidt@sennheiser.com 

All photographs courtesy of Swiss Television.