Graham Vick’s monster-sized stadium opera production of La Traviata has transferred to the UK, playing to two packed houses at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

Sound By Design Senior Engineer Griff Hewis mixed the show, for which Principal engineer Phil Wright provided the sound design, which utilised a distributed flown system comprising Meyer Sound MSL-2A and UPA-1C loudspeakers, with UPM-1Ps and 700-HP subwoofers for the ground system. The design brief was to provide audio reinforcement, which was as naturalistic as possible, with imaging of paramount importance. This meant a theatre style approach, with eight hangs of loudspeakers around the 180-degree audience area. The ground fills were placed in the front of the set and the subs under the side-wings of the orchestra pit.

Microphone placement also had to be discrete with an unusually closely mic’d orchestra, so that no stands were particularly high. Chorus mics, which had to peek up above head height, were Sound By Design’s ultra-discrete Audix MB1245s. Principals were mic’d up using Sennheiser MKE 2 Gold-Dot capsules on Shure UHF-R lapel radio microphone systems with frequency management carried out using Shure’s “Wireless Workbench” software over wireless LAN.

The show was very well received by the critics and audience alike, receiving glowing reviews, such as The Telegraph’s Rupert Christiansen writing;