The Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino presented the renewal of the institutional site and the audio tour tool that allows the public to “listen” to the acoustics of the theater.

A technology that does not replace reality but gives awareness of the great hall of the Maggio.

Florence, 11 October 2021 – In recent days, the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino presented to the media and the public the new institutional site that appears to be renewed and faster and the Audio tour tool, hosted in the pages of the site, which allows the public to “listen” to the acoustics of the great hall of the Theater. This section is a peculiarity of the Maggio, for now unique in the world, the result of a doctoral research by the University of Florence, in collaboration with Tempo Reale, IRCAM of Paris and Mezzoforte. Married from the beginning by the Technical Direction and the Cultural Promotion of May and integrated with the support of the IT Theater of the Theater, it is an interesting opportunity for the public. With 13 different sound perspectives, it testifies, among other things, to the excellent acoustics of the great hall and allows you to “listen” to it before choosing your seat for the shows. Andrea Gozzi, author of the project and researcher at SAGAS of the University of Florence, Andrea De Marchi, coordinator of the research doctorate in history of art and entertainment (SAGAS) at the University of Florence, the musicologist Mila De Santis talked about it. and the marketing director of the Maggio Marcello Ronchei.

The new site of the Maggio renewed in appearance and adaptability to communication tools such as tablets and smartphones, faster in navigation, edited and developed all at the Maggio, presents new graphics and technically will allow subsequent developments more quickly and quickly. and implementations, the publication of videos, up to the possible section dedicated to merchandising in the near future. On this new site, specifically on this new “engine” it was possible to host a new section, the Audio tour, an area that offers the opportunity to enrich and complete the experience at the Maggio. With 13 listening points in the hall, from the stalls, to the boxes, to the gallery and six different sound sources, recorded in the anechoic and semi-anechoic chamber, such as musical instruments, singing and orchestra and then broadcast from the stage, it testifies to the excellent acoustics of Maggio and it allows you to “listen to it”, demonstrates its excellence and notes its different peculiarities. A technology that obviously does not replace reality but gives the audience awareness of the quality of the great hall of the Maggio.

“For us it was very important to work and renew the Maggio site – says Marcello Ronchei – to date the website is the main communication portal with our viewers, both Florentine and with the more” extended and distant “public we hear. to involve more. Therefore, having a site that has a fresh and renewed graphic design and that represents all the possibilities and activities, in addition to the shows that the theater offers, is important and extremely useful “. About the Audio tour project, Ronchei says: “It is a project led by Andrea Gozzi that leads us to reveal the excellent acoustic quality in every sector of our Theater, 13 zones have been monitored which have different characteristics depending on the location, but with the same excellent quality everywhere. The Maggio opens up to a new technological key, with respect to the public who, feeling how the Theater “proposes” music, has the possibility to buy their place in a more conscious way. I am pleased to point out the other important bodies that have collaborated with us and with the University of Florence and that have certified the quality of this work which we will also extend to the new Auditorium “.

“The excellent acoustics of the Maggio” room “is the result of many technical and technological devices – says Andrea Gozzi – many of which are not visible to the viewer such as the panels hidden by the metal mesh or those placed on the ceiling which serve as reflective elements. to create a room that resonates like a musical instrument that amplifies what happens on stage. Other details help to minimize disturbances that can interfere with the acoustic performance, some very interesting singularities that the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has such as the column that diffuses the air of the ventilation system that is placed under the armchairs. For the measurements in the 13 positions we used microphones that mimic human auditory perception and perspective by playing a speaker on the stage throughout the audible frequency spectrum that humans can perceive from 20 HRZ to 20,000. The results, the result of all the tests, show how the acoustics of the Maggio room resonate excellently wherever you listen, with peculiarities that vary depending on the position in which you are. On the Maggio website there is an interactive section that allows you to listen, using headphones, to different sounds: instruments, singing, a symphonic piece “transmitted” from the stage and perceive them in the large hall exactly as if you were sitting in one of the 13 chosen points. “.