A spectacle within a spectacle. What was staged for six evenings at London’s Royal Albert Hall was a true immersive event in which sound, light and special effects merged together to engage the audience and bring them inside the performance. Organized by Raymond Gubbay Ltd “Classical Spectacular” certainly did not disappoint the participants who had been buying tickets for months for one of the six scheduled dates.
Maestro Jhon Rigby conducted baritone Nicholas Lester, tenor Marc Heller and the more than 200 performers of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Choral Society for a cultural event not to be missed thanks to the well-established format conceived in 1989 by Raymond Gubbay.
The composer did not think of the use of lights as side effects but as supporting elements of the performance in which classical music gains communicative power thanks to state-of-the-art special effects given by pyrotechnics, lasers and other visual suggestions such as the thousands of colorful balloons rained down on the audience at the end of the performance as The Royal Choral Society sang the national anthem. And on the notes of “Land of Hope & Glory” the Union Jack was projected with Clay Paky Mythos at different points in the majestic hall. The British flag, reproduced on 9 gobos, was commissioned from Goboservice by London-based Light Control Rigging LCR, and its final projection was expressly intended to pay homage to the patriotic spirit so dear to the British.
