The Grand Theatre, National Opera, located at the heart of Poland’s world famous Theatre Square remains a beacon of the country’s thriving performing arts community. Originally opened in 1833 but almost completely reconstructed after the Second World War, the expansive venue remains one of the largest theatres in Europe. To ensure that it keeps pace with the expectations of its highly discerning audience, the theatre’s management recently engaged the services of The M.Ostrowski Company, a prominent player in the Polish electroacoustics and AV sector since 1990 to undertake an audio upgrade.
The project revolved around the theatre’s primary performance space, the 1,800-plus capacity Stanisław Moniuszko Auditorium which is used for an acclaimed blend of opera, ballet and theatre performances. The new system needed to be able to offer subtle, highly directive reinforcement for orchestral music and announcements and after a competitive tender process M.Ostrowski Company turned to Renkus-Heinz and the Iconyx range of Digitally Steerable Column Arrays to provide an ideal solution.
Engineered for the most challenging acoustical environments, Iconyx combines Renkus-Heinz’s beam steering expertise with unrivalled intelligibility and full-range musicality all within discreet enclosures that blend in with their environment. The Grand Theatre, National Opera is now served by two IC32 speakers, with 32 x 4-inch coaxial transducers (each with three HF tweeters), 16 amplifier and DSP channels and beam control effective down to 200Hz. The configuration also includes two IC16 speakers with 16 x 4-inches coaxial transducers (each with three HF tweeters), 8 amplifier, DSP channels and beam control effective down to 200 Hz, plus DR-18-2R subs to handle the low frequencies.
“What we have here with this Iconyx system is a highly effective PA that also blends unobtrusively into the venue’s historic and distinctive interiors,” comments M. Ostrowski Technical Director, Łukasz Toboła. “The project was completed to schedule and has met with a strongly positive reaction from both venue personnel and patrons.”
