Russia’s Marinksy Theatre invests in FreeSpeak for wireless intercoms
The Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg has completed a major installation of the latest wireless communications solutions from Clear-Co. The systems, which feature the FreeSpeak II digital wireless system and the Agent-IC mobile app, were supplied and installed by Clear-Com’s regional partner, Oltbert Business Development.
The Mariinsky Theatre is one of the world’s most prestigious theatres for opera and ballet, with a rich history intertwined with Russia’s political and cultural shifts over the last 150 years. It has seen the premieres of important stage works from Russian composers including Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, while many legends of the ballet such as Anna Pavlova, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Barishnikov began their careers at the Mariinsky Theatre’s ballet school.
The main Mariinsky Theatre building has undergone many reconstructions over the years and now seats over 1,600 guests. A second theater building, the Mariinsky II, was built behind the original in 2013, with seven storeys above ground and three below, boasting an auditorium that can seat to 2,000 people.
Each building has a separate communication set-up; when it was built, the Mariinsky II installed a Clear-Com Eclipse HX digital matrix system, but production teams in the older building were relying on outdated and unreliable walkie-talkies. Recently the theatre’s technical department began looking for a solution to update both buildings, harnessing the latest wireless technologies to improve communications.
“We were very happy with our Eclipse System in the Mariinsky II, so we were delighted to be able to integrate a FreeSpeak II Wireless System into it, giving us the same reliable intercom but with additional flexibility that allows staff to move freely around this large building,” said Alexander Logvinov, leader of Mariinsky Sound and Video Department, Mariinsky II. “For the original theatre we installed a new standalone FreeSpeak II system which has transformed the way our production staff communicates.”