Listen to the Theatre! Exploring Florentine Performative Spaces

A music performance space constitutes the frame as well as the content of the listeners’ experience. The acoustic environment forces continuous negotiations that differ according to a listener’s role and position as conductor, performer or audience member. The aim of this research is to investigate the acoustics of a performative space, the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, following two complementary paths, both based on an interactive model. The first one offers an impulse-response experience: the user can virtually explore the opera hall by choosing between the binaural reproductions of 13 different listening positions whether off-site (using an audiovisual web app) or on-site, through bone conduction headphones.The second one is about the aural and visual perception of a rehearsal of the romance "Una furtiva lagrima" from Donizetti’s opera L’elisir d’amore. Through the use of ambisonics recordings, 360 degrees videos and a virtual reality headset, the user can experience the performance from three different points of the theatre alternatively: on stage, in the orchestra pit and in the audience area. The three different perspectives can be switched instantaneously using a remote controller.