The visibility of some sectors of the gallery of the great hall of the Teatro del Maggio has been improved.
The adjustment was carried out and completed during the summer break and involved 292 seats in the gallery.

Florence 8 September 2022 – On the occasion of the awaited symphonic-choral concert on 9 September 2022 when the master Zubin Mehta at the helm of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio will conclude the Beethoven cycle with the execution of the Octave and the monumental Ninth symphony, the gallery audience will find improvements made in some seats that have been raised with respect to the previous arrangement to favor a wider visibility of the stage. The intervention involved the seats in the first and second central sector and the first and second lateral sector on the right (looking at the stage), for a total of 292 seats.

Under the supervision of the architect Paolo Desideri, designer of the entire complex, and the engineer Jürgen Reinhold who studied and designed the acoustics of both the great room and the Mehta room, numerous armchairs were mounted on a new wooden base, raised by a step with respect to the pre-existing level and some armchairs in the second sector were raised by placing them on a single cylinder of about ten centimeters under each seat; the path marker lights and the hot / cold ventilation ducts under each chair have been adjusted.

The works on the construction site, which opened during the summer break and closed in due time precisely in view of the symphonic concert, were carried out by the same company that created the flooring for both the great hall and the Mehta hall. On this occasion, about 140 square meters of new parquet were laid on the platforms.

Superintendent Alexander Pereira says: “When I arrived in Maggio, some people in the audience told me that from the gallery they couldn’t see the stage well, especially during concerts. I promised a solution and I am very happy in this sense that I was able to keep my word. It was absolutely, absolutely, right to intervene and now the situation has significantly improved. The carpenters worked very well and delivered the work on time to allow us to host the audience of the great concert on 9 September conducted by Zubin Mehta with the Choir and Orchestra and the soloists. Now we are waiting for the technological adaptation of the stage to be completed in December in order to have a theater at its full potential “.

The architect Paolo Desideri, designer of the entire complex involved in this intervention, said: “In the general reorganization resulting from the opening of the new Zubin Mehta Hall, Maggio asked us to be able to optimize the use of the Great Hall also for the use as a hall for large concerts. An important change if we consider that the Opera House was conceived to hide the orchestra in the “Buca”, while in the use now requested by the Maggio the Orchestra and the Conductor must have a visibility not foreseen until today. For this reason, some rows of the Gallery have been modified, raising them by about 15 cm with respect to the current height and providing for the general connection of the new seating dimensions with those of access and exit of the Gallery. An important modification carried out in the spirit and in the general respect of the morphologies of the restricted hall, as known, as an Artistic Work of National Interest. ”

Jürgen Reinhold, the acoustic engineer who studied and designed the acoustics of both the large hall and the Mehta hall, provided indications so that, in addition to improving visibility, excellent acoustics were also respected and guaranteed. “The intervention was simple but effective – said Reinhold – and this allows better visibility during concerts when the Orchestra is positioned, and forward, on the” Buca “and not in the” Mystical Gulf “as happens for the operas, the acoustics remain fantastic, as before ”.

Maggio Fiorentino: the visibility of some sectors of the gallery of the great hall of the Theater has been improved