The Royal Danish Opera House

      Celebrating its 10th season anniversary, The Royal Danish Opera House decided to add an extra dimension to the beauty of the modern building designed by architect Henning Larsen.

 

Lighting designer and technical manager from the Royal Danish Theatre, Tommy Larsen, is responsible for lighting, sound and video. “We wanted to create a hype around the Opera House and put focus on this amazing building, which is visible throughout central Copenhagen and the Dockland,” he explains.

 

But this vision was far from straightforward. Immediate challenges encompass the front of the structure, which is a glass façade with steel bars; then there is the great distance, the task of illuminating the water in front of the building through the light output (or its reflection) … all the while ensuring the minimum of inconvenience for the audience seated in the foyer area. Tommy Larsen questioned whether the P-5 would be bright enough for an explosive illumination and be able to provide a sufficiently wide wash.

 

“I have to say that all my concerns were put to shame,” he states. “The P-5 is a unique luminaire; its output is incomparable, it provides a world-class beam angle, its colour mix is fantastic and it is tremendously easy to operate both as stand-alone fixture or chained together. All in all, it is a first-class wash light,” Tommy Larsen assesses.

 

Thus is came about that 30 P-5 wash lights now illuminate The Royal Danish Opera House for each opening night of a new show; this started with Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, followed by Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth, in beautiful red colours resembling the bloodshed of the drama and subsequently Alban Berg’s Lulu, washed in blue, green and red colours.

 

With many new production to come, the P-5s will continue to prove their worth, both to the Opera House and the Danish capital.