The world-renowned Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Russia, has completed a major installation of the latest wireless communications solutions from Clear-Com. The systems, which feature the award-winning FreeSpeak II Digital Wireless System and the Agent-IC mobile app, were supplied and installed by Clear-Com’s regional partner, Oltbert Business Development.
The main Mariinsky Theatre building has undergone many reconstructions over the years and now seats over 1,600 guests. A second theater building, the Mariinsky II, was built behind the original in 2013, with seven storeys above ground and three below, boasting an auditorium that can seat to 2,000 people. Each building has a separate communication set-up; when it was built, the Mariinsky II installed a Clear-Com Eclipse® HX Digital Matrix System, but production teams in the older building were relying on outdated and unreliable walkie-talkies. Recently the theatre’s technical department began looking for a solution to update both buildings, harnessing the latest wireless technologies to improve communications.
“We were very happy with our Eclipse System in the Mariinsky II, so we were delighted to be able to integrate a FreeSpeak II Wireless System into it, giving us the same reliable intercom but with additional flexibility that allows staff to move freely around this large building,” said Alexander Logvinov, Leader of Mariinsky Sound and Video Department, Mariinsky II. “For the original theater we installed a new standalone FreeSpeak II system which has transformed the way our production staff communicates.”
The original theater’s new FreeSpeak II system has two E1 transceivers with eight beltpacks, and its existing Eclipse Matrix was upgraded to an Eclipse HX Digital Matrix System with the latest software that enables it to seamlessly integrate with IP communications, digital wireless solutions and other devices. The FreeSpeak II system in the Mariinsky II features six FreeSpeak II IP-T transceivers over AES67 PoE connection, with 16 beltpacks. The Clear-Com Agent-IC mobile app on iOS or Android devices is also available to extend the system if visiting productions require additional clients. The systems enable virtually everyone in each theater to communicate, including FOH, stage managers, lighting teams and production managers.
