Home of celebrated conductor Vladimir Spivakov and the National Philharmonic of Russia,Svetlanov Hall is the principal venue of Moscow'sInternational Performing Arts Center. To expand its range of concert fare, the 1,735-seat venue recently installed a Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system and a reinforcement system based around MICA line array loudspeakers.
With an architectural reverberation time of 1.7 seconds, the hall suits orchestral performance well, but is less accommodating of other musical genres. Now with Constellation, Svetlanov Hall can provide the proper acoustics for pop and jazz performances including Al Di Meola and The Duke Ellington Orchestra, as well as its magnificent 5,500-pipe organ, the largest in Russia.
The dramatic improvement to Svetlanov Hall's acoustics was immediately lauded by conductors, musicians, and audience alike.
"Constellation makes Svetlanov Hall one of the best in Russia for all kinds of classical music," says Pavel Kravchun, associate professor of acoustics at Moscow Lomonosov State University, curator of organs for the Performing Arts Center, and an accomplished organist himself.
"When I played the organ in the improved acoustics for the first time, I enjoyed the long, cathedral-like reverberations," Kravchun recalls. "Constellation makes the organ sound richer, and better balanced."
Kravchun notes that the improvements extend to orchestral and chamber music as well: "Now Svetlanov Hall is not one hall but a number of concert halls with optimum acoustics for every kind of music."
Svetlanov Hall's Constellation system employs a total of 137 compact self-powered loudspeakers spaced overhead and around the perimeter of the venue. A unique feature in this particular system is the "active acoustical canopy." It is formed by 16 Meyer Sound Stella-8C installation loudspeakers suspended inside color-matched cylindrical enclosures, and supplies critical early reflections for the stage and front seating areas.
The system also incorporates Meyer Sound UP-4XP 48 V loudspeakers and MM-4XP self-powered loudspeakers, as well as 10 UMS-SM subwoofers, which are crucial for properly enhancing the sound of its organ.
At the heart of the Constellation system are four D-Mitri DVRAS digital processors which host the patented VRAS algorithms. The complete D-Mitri system comprises a total of 14 frames, and 48 miniature microphones are precisely placed around the hall to pick up the room's physical response.
The reinforcement system is based around main arrays of 10-each MICA loudspeakers flown under dual 600-HP subwoofers. Designed by consultant Dave Dennison, the system also includes dual ground-stacked 700-HP subwoofers, six rear array UPQ-1P loudspeakers, seven front-fill M1D line array loudspeakers, and a Galileo loudspeaker management system with one Galileo 616 processor. Both the Constellation and reinforcement systems were supplied and installed by DSS (Digital Sound Systems) of Moscow under the direction of Vladimir Marchenko.
The Moscow International Performing Arts Center, literally translated, as "House of Music," was designed under the direction of principal architects Vladilen Krasilnikov and Yuri Gnedovsky. The circular Svetlanov Hall is named in honor of legendary conductor Evgeny Svetlanov.
