ETC Supports Always ABBA for Stage and Screen

The RTVE Orchestra and Choir's Always ABBA concert brought the 42nd edition of Veranos de la Villa in Madrid to a close with more than 100 musicians, four solo vocalists and a large-scale lighting rig featuring ETC's Halcyon Titanium HF fixtures and Hog lighting control. The outdoor concert, held at Enrique Tierno Galván Park on 29 August, welcomed more than 8,000 people and was later televised by RTVE, Spain’s public broadcaster.

Technical lighting production was handled by AVL Technical Projects, with Alfonso Torrealba and Luis Drake responsible for the lighting design and technical installation. Lighting operation was handled by Óscar Gallardo and Ezequiel Nobili, both members of AAIV, the Spanish Association of Lighting Designers. The production featured a range of technologies supplied by ETC dealer and distributor Video Cine Import (VCI), including ETC Halcyon Titanium HF fixtures and Hog lighting control.

With the concert also being produced for television, the lighting team needed to ensure the show looked as good on camera as it did for the audience in the park. Halcyon Titanium HF was used as key light for the musicians and singers, delivering the color accuracy and beam control needed for broadcast capture.

"For this production, we needed a lighting system that could handle the demands of both the live show and the television broadcast," says Nobili. "Halcyon Titanium HF gave us the color quality and control we needed for the musicians and singers, while Hog provided a familiar and flexible platform for running the show."

Halcyon Titanium HF's High Fidelity LED engine delivers a CRI of more than 93, while its 6°-60° zoom range allowed the team to adjust coverage across the large outdoor stage without compromising light quality.

The lighting was controlled using the ETC Hog platform, with a Stage Hog and Tour Hog used for programming and playback throughout the show. The consoles provided a familiar and flexible workflow for Gallardo and Nobili, allowing them to manage cueing, timing and the complex lighting looks required for a large-scale outdoor production. The combination of powerful programming tools and intuitive operation helped the team maintain a consistent visual experience throughout the performance.

Always ABBA was organized by Madrid Destino as the closing event of Veranos de la Villa, one of Madrid's major summer cultural programmes.