Andrea Bocelli, the renowned Italian singer, dubbed by some to be ‘The world’s most beloved tenor’ is marking the 30th anniversary of his remarkable career. A singer known for performing around the world, he is currently out on his North American Spring Tour through mid-April. OSA International, Inc. is supporting the tour with lighting, video, rigging, audio, and crew. Bocelli’s long-time Lighting Designer, Aldo Visentin of ArtmachinA and Production Manager, Jay Schwartz spoke with PLSN about some of the recent changes to the design of the Maestro’s tour.
Visentin has been the Lighting Designer for Bocelli since 2006 notes, “The elements that characterize the current design, mark sort of a break from those that have been past common denominators. There was a desire to create a design that completely distanced itself from typical theatrical scenic constructions; a common thread of the lighting designs used in the past. These choices, that we adopted were for the entire concept, not just the lighting.”
Putting the Artist at the Center
The resulting design aesthetic puts the artist at the center of the scene in a stronger, and more physical way. “The Maestro is a static figure on stage and therefore the spectators love the emotional experience of his voice and his singing; this experience is the essence of the show,” explains Visentin. “Unlike what happened in the past, with this lighting design, the physical-live presence of the performer on stage, has been enhanced through a conspicuous and greater volume of light in a kind of volumetric presence, rather than a more ambient role. Now many light beams have taken the place of washes and sometimes softer light used in the past.”
With his new lighting design, Visentin uses light for what he defines as its, “specific expressive capacity.” He worked to bring out the aesthetic potential of the lighting by playing with the geometry of the beams of light and varying his focuses. “The three types of fixtures in my design—Profile, Wash, Beams (Hybrid)—have been grouped in linear arrays of four units,” says the designer. “It was a creative and stimulating challenge therefore to create the “morphing” between the different geometries generated by the beams in each cue using transitions that were not only classic but also with a fan-timing between fixtures. Together with each positional look, I organically applied static color shades in order to increase the perspective depth of the stage from brighter and lighter toned colors to darker and denser tones. New for me in this show was the use of beam fixtures. The choice of hybrid beams was in order to use them together with my profiles, and when necessary, enhance their presence through transitions from spot to narrow beam.”
In this new design, it was first time Visentin had used hybrid beam units for a Bocelli design. Hybrid fixtures offer a combination of multiple beam types, including Wash, Beam and Spot modes in one unit. These hybrid lights did provide a challenge that needed to be addressed carefully. “On this occasion is where I had to pay particular attention to generating positions focus in order to not disturb the orchestral players’ view of their scores—sometimes a very difficult task.”
Key Gear Choices
As Visentin mentioned, there were only three types of lighting fixtures used for his Bocelli design— Ayrton Huracàns for Profiles, Ayrton Zonda 9 FXs as multi source Washes, and Robe MegaPointes as Hybrid Beam. “High power and specific effects capabilities, with which they are equipped, were the common denominators of all types of fixtures that I chose,” comments Visentin. “My choices were based on the aesthetic and expressive objective that I intended to achieve. I dedicated for the role of the wash light on the orchestra, 16 Zondas, which were enough to give color and shape to the large orchestra that occupies most of the stage. I rarely use the built-in macro effects that can be created with multi-source washes, however those that I consider to be in the right class of use, have been introduced. I must say that even with a lower number of total pixels in play, the orchestra never lost its stage presence and character.”
The designer highlights his profile of choice. “I’ve had chances to use various profiles in the past, but what hit me about the [Ayrton] Huracàn was the render of certain colors, which I use mostly in combination with that light beam ‘presence’; the feeling of the Huracàn literally captured me. For an Andrea Bocelli show—in my vision—it is not about a complicated structure of programming and effects, it is more a fine game of an equilibrium of delicate looks, coming at the right time, in the right time. There are no chases, no strobes, and no articulated FX; well, let’s say. just few. So, the ingredients I use most are intensity, color, and gobo/texture. These are the three main players that I depend on the most when imagining an Andrea Bocelli show. In my opinion, the performance in mixing those three functionalities from the Huracàn is the one that I consider the most suitable for our style of show. I have been using Huracàn since the UK tour at the end of 2022. Also, as I mentioned, the role of the hybrid light was completely new and surprising. They allow a nice transition between spot and beam which, at the right moments, ‘move’ the attention of the audience which literally enhances their reaction at the peak show moments, as well as obviously, at the grand finale.”
Vendor Support
This tour is the first one that OSA International has supported. Visentin comments, “It was my first experience with OSA, and realistically speaking it was simply perfect. Everyone worked well in advance to define and prepare my specifications without any compromise. The gear was all brand new! OSA also ensured the team that I have been working with in the past, was back out on this tour. The crew were perfect as always. I am grateful for the commitment they have shown, as well as their punctuality and professionalism. I could not say more!”
Production Manager, Jay Schwartz has been part of the Bocelli touring family for over 26 years. He speaks about the value of having 360° services from one vendor on this tour. “From my side of things, it definitely simplifies things because I don’t have to make three or four different calls for departmentalized gear. I’m not dealing with a lighting house, a rigging house, a video house, and an audio house. Working with OSA, it’s all in one, so that simplifies things greatly. It helps when the company has that much equipment, and also has multiple depots across the country. It simplifies things because as we tour and sometimes need to replace gear, they can have a truck meet us at the next show. One vendor definitely helps in that regard.”
Carmen P. Educate of OSA, that has offices in Las Vegas, Nashville, and Chicago, talks about supporting the Bocelli tour. “Some of the solutions that we brought were based on a sporadic tour schedule. How we can make this work to be able to store the equipment when not on tour, and use the equipment when needed for shows in the U.S. So, we collaborated with them on some of the design elements as well as upgrading the equipment from what they had been using in the past. At OSA, we take care of the attention to detail and the finer points of what is expected for an artist of this caliber. That’s where we pride ourselves. It’s not just hitting a spec but providing more of a solutions-based offering; something that everyone can be proud of.”
Standout Moments
When asked if there were songs or moments that really stood out for him, Visentin replies, “I would say there’s not really a particular song which pleased me, but there are moments. The construction and programming of our show is very simple and, in my opinion, very effective. Once we have acquired the set list, we trace what we call an ‘emotional curve’ which is generated on the basis of our considerations by the analysis of the songs—the repertoire is very large. We therefore look for the right ‘keys’ to describe the progress of this curve through light and visuals. The physical instances of lights and video tell the various emotional moments of the show. The most intriguing aspect of all this is due to the artist’s needs, where the set lists change very very often—sometimes even three or four times in a tour—therefore we are used to experimenting with different combinations and interpretative solutions.”
PRODUCTION TEAM
- Production Manager: Jay Schwartz
- Lighting Designer: Aldo Visentin
- Set Designer: Paolo Marchetti
- Video / Creative Engineer: Luca Scota
- Camera Director: Emigliano Napoli
- Lead Camera: Gabriel Varela
- FOH Video Technician: Fabrizio Di Lelio
- Lighting Crew Chief: Randy Foote
- Lighting Technicians: Patricia “Ollie” Frye, Jason Henry
- Dimmer Technician: Keith Meola
- Video Crew Chief: Rob Seagert
- LED Lead: Thomas Matzke
- LED Technicians: Arturo Alonzo, Casey Bowen, Nate Stepna Jr., Kris Killian
- System Engineer: Anthony Wilson
- Head Rigger: Ken Flagg
- Rigger: PJ Armellino
- Head Carpenter: Doug Brown
- Carpenter: James Brown
- Stage Manager: Gary Stinnett
- Production Coordinator: Tin Mohn
- Production Assistant: Hailey Guyette
VENDOR
- OSA International, Inc.: Lighting, Video, Rigging, Audio
GEAR
Lighting
- Ayrton Huracan LT
- Ayrton Zonda 9 FX
- Robe MegaPointe
- CHAUVET STRIKE Array 2
- CHAUVET STRIKE Array 4
- Chroma-Q Color Force II 48
- grandMA3 full-size Console
- grandMA3 NPU M
- Luminex GigaCore 10
- MDG theOne Atmospheric Generator
- Lex Products 400A 48-Way Distro
Video
- ROE Visual CB5 LED Full and Half Tiles
- Brompton Tessera SX40 4K LED Processor
- Brompton Tessera XD 10G Data Distribution Unit
- Barco E2 Processor
- Ross Carbonite Ultra 60 Switcher
- Blackmagic Design Videohub Smart Controller
- Blackmagic 12G 40×40 HD-SDI Router
Rigging
- Tyler 14”x24”x10’ GT Plus Black Truss
- Xtreme 18”x12”x10’ Utility Truss
- Tour Rig Chain Hoists
- Motion Labs Hoist Controls
