The influence of proscenium boxes on acoustic response in historical opera halls

Abstract

In some historical opera halls there are boxes located around the proscenium, commonly called proscenium or "director" boxes. These boxes have a certain influence on the initial part of the impulse response of an opera hall on the singer-auditorium, singer-singer, and singer-orchestra pit paths. During the reconstruction of the Ljubljana opera hall, measurement of a scaled model was performed to quantify the influence of proscenium boxes on the hall's impulse response. Some variation in box configuration on the acoustic response was also tested. This paper describes the results of this research.

From Tangible to Intangible Heritage inside Italian Historical Opera Houses

“…The consideration of the forestage importance was addressed from the beginning of the modern theatre architecture and the need for side reflections from almost plane surfaces to support the singer was also a common design requirement. Interventions on proscenium boxes in particular were recently outlined as one of the few possible ways of improving the acoustics in the case of refurbishments [13]. A complementary strategy that was historically pursued in order to optimize the visual contact and the acoustical communication between singers and audience was the extension of proscenium as much as possible into the main auditorium [14].…”