Designed by London based Zaha Hadid Architects, Guangzhou Opera House has been created as a leading 'palace of art', and a landmark of both the city's new development and Guangzhou's cultural status.
Based around a 'twin boulder' design, the venue consists of an 1800-seat opera house and 400-seat multi-functional theatre. These will run a broad programme encompassing ballet, symphony orchestral music, experimental drama and artistic and cultural exchange.
Robert Juliat Asia supplied the Opera House with a range of 2000W profiles in the form of 20 RJ 711SX, 16 RJ 714SX and four RJ 713SX, and a total of six followspots: two Lucy 13/22° 1200W HMI, two Alex 7/14.4° 2500W tungsten and two Ginger 13/22° 2500W tungsten units. The Concert Hall was also equipped with four RJ 611SX and 10 RJ 614SX 1000W profiles along with two Cricket 10.5/22.5° 1200W tungsten followspots.
Opera House Technician, Mr. Li, commented, "We are very proud to be equipped with Juliat's profiles and followspots. The smooth operation and compact size of the followspot has won many favourable comments from operators. Many of the visiting performance groups' designers are more than happy when they see Juliat in our list of equipment, and never fail to put them in their priority list. This is mainly because of the confidence in fixtures' build and the quality of light output, which has been proven and recognized through the years."
After four years in construction, the official opening of the 155m venue took place on 6 May 2010 with a full-scale production of Turandot. France's Ballet Preljocaj, China's Central Ballet Troupe and USA's Michael Bolton are just some of the diverse talents scheduled to appear in the coming year.
(Jim Evans)
