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Baltic Opera Gdansk turns to Robe for lighting system upgrade

The Opera Baltycka (Baltic Opera) in Gdansk, on Poland’s north coast, has invested in new Robe lighting fixtures with the purchase of eighteen TX1 PosiProfiles and four Paintes which have been installed into its current building.

While the cozy 476 capacity makes it Poland’s smallest opera hall, the Baltic Opera has a formidable reputation for excellence. As a producing house with its own company (opera singers and ballet dancers) and orchestra, Baltic Opera stages around ten shows a month, primarily opera and ballet, of which four will usually be new works and the rest revivals. They also stage special performances for occasions like New Year.

Lighting specialist Marek Lebida has been working full time at the Opera since the Robe fixtures arrived last year, supplied by Robe’s Polish distributor Prolight, and delivered via their local partner, Gdansk-based Grupa Profit. Lebida was inspired to make entertainment his career by his father who worked as a lighting master at this same Opera House, however he started on the other side of the stage as a ballet dancer. He used to dance in the Opera House when at school, so joining the team was like a homecoming. Immediately before then, he worked on shows and live events for a local rental company and as a freelance lighting designer and director.

Before the new Robe luminaires arrived, there were other moving lights in the house, says Baltic Opera’s head of technical Krzystof Materny, but these were getting old and unreliable. During Covid, they started thinking about ways to reduce power consumption - with a goal of using 20-30 percent less - part of which would be achieved by steadily transitioning to more LED lighting fixtures in the house rig.

The decision to purchase the Robe luminaires followed a demonstration by Prolight and consultations with some of their regular lighting designers including Lebida as he had specified Robe regularly for multiple projects as a freelance LD. Several others working at the Opera had also used Robe when they rented in additional fixtures as needed for shows, so all were aware that their own lighting needed to be updated and the time was right for a change.

According to Lebida, the TX1 Posi Profile’s CRI was crucial in the choice to get natural flesh tones. “We set up real-life stage tests and compared the skin tones of the TX1s with some other products including the Opera’s existing profile moving lights”, he says. The decision to purchase was made by a team of five including Materny and Baltic Opera technical director Magda Zablotny.

The TX1s are now installed on four house bars over the stage with two on the floor. The four Paintes are fitted into two recesses either side of the auditorium and are used for front cross lighting, replacing the previous spot moving lights in the same positions. Lighting for most of the opera productions is designed by in-house LD Maciej Kaczerski, and Marek Lebida lights all the special shows, concerts and one-offs.

Pictured (left to right): Baltic Opera head of technical, Krzystof Materny, lighting specialist Marek Lebida, and technical director Magda Zablotny. (Photos: Louise Stickland/Marek Lebida/Krzysztof Mystkowski)

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