The scenic Sternschanze district in Hamburg is a lively, colourful and cosmopolitan old quarter of the city. Its crooked cobblestone streets are lined with numerous pubs, taverns, restaurants and cultural institutions. Right in the heart of the 'Schanze', as the residents call their little world, the pretty "Delphi Showpalast" with its roughly 400 seats has been presenting musicals for the past 15 years and has acquired a definite cult status. Visitors flock here from all over Northern Germany to be entertained by the cheeky shows in the Delphi's wonderfully personal atmosphere.
Owned by Danish national broadcaster DR and costing over US$300m, the brand new DR Konserthuset is one of the most expensive live music venues ever built. A state-of-the-art facility which offers four performance halls and a home to the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, it features cutting-edge technical and acoustic specifications.
One of Denmark’s most iconic cultural venues, the Opera House (Operaen) in Copenhagen is a multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art concert venue which opened in 2000. But, though huge resources were put into the venue’s acoustics, it has taken a unique Yamaha digital mixing engine installation to get the perfect result for performers.
The Yamaha LS9 digital console continues to be a huge success in regional theatres across Europe. Combining ease of use, reliability and a feature set unrivalled at its low price point, the LS9 is making life less stressful and more intuitively creative for an ever-growing band of sound technicians. One of the latest UK venues to adopt it is Scotland’s Adam Smith Theatre.
When it comes to businessmen, those that invest wisely for the benefit of their employees and others are invariably regarded very well. In Italy, Cashmere magnate Brunello Cucinelli is firmly of this breed, a focal point of whose philanthropism is his sympathetic restoration and development of the historic medieval village of Solomeo, near Perugia.
Taking a wildly successful Australian film about two drag queens and a transsexual driving across the Australian outback in a bus, including 25 big show songs and taking it to the stage is a challenge definitely not for the faint hearted. But with Priscilla Queen of the Desert - The Musical, this is exactly what production company Back Row productions has achieved. Receiving rave reviews, Yamaha digital consoles are helping to ensure that Priscilla is also queen of the London stage.
Rare is the opportunity that a major British city has the chance to design and build a brand new, state of the art theatre. But that’s precisely what has happened with Curve Theatre in Leicester, a venue that has made many headlines because the ability for those outside to see straight into the foyer, auditorium and main stage through the building’s vast glass frontage.
With two leading characters cast via a primetime reality television show, audience expectations of the new West End production of musical Oliver! were perhaps higher than for any other theatre show in history. But with three Yamaha digital consoles and a DME64N digital mix engine at front of house, sound designer Paul Groothuis and his associate John Owens have made sure that nobody will be disappointed.
When faced with designing a challenging audio system for a challenging play, sound designer Gareth Fry turned to Yamaha’s M7CL digital mixing console as the ideal solution. And with the 2009 Olivier Award for Best Sound Design now safely in his grasp, he obviously made the right decision.
