Haarlem Philharmonie Chooses Robe DL4X

	Marco Hartendorf (third from left) and his team. Photo: Louise Stickland

Marco Hartendorf, technical manager of the Philharmonie concert hall in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and his crew had huge smiles on their faces when their first Robe moving lights arrived at the venue -- 10 brand new DL4X Spots.

Silence and the LED light source were both keys when it came to deciding which luminaires to invest in for this latest purchase, and although competitor products had been used in their concert and recital venues before -- they were too noisy for this type of performance explained Hartendorf.

He and the lighting team of four work across the Philharmonie's two main venues -- De Kleine Zaal capacity 412 and The Great Hall, with 1,220 sets, and also the Stadschouwburg (City Hall) which is about 2km away, still in the city center.

What is now the Philharmonie re-opened in 2005 after extensive renovations incorporating the original building and its performance spaces dating back to the late 19th century -- known as the Concertgebouw for many years -- with a new building ... that is artfully wrapped around it, in the process creating some fantastic classic-meets-contemporary environments as well as the new Kleine Zaal (Small Hall). The fabulous original Cavaillé-Coll organ in the Great Hall was also restored to its former glory.

In addition to the lively program of concerts, recitals, orchestral, and other shows produced be the Philharmonie and the City Hall -- the latter is more focused on rock, pop, and dance music -- all these spaces are utilized for events, presentations, parties, and private hires, so the schedule is busy.

While some artists will bring their own production to the City Hall, in most cases, the house crew and lighting rig is utilized, so they have to be able to offer as much flexibility as possible, and this was also a motivation for the DL4X purchase.

Apart from the near silent running of Robe's LED Spot fixture, an excellent quality of light output was needed, and being an LED source, it fulfils the "green key" requirements for sustainability, a philosophy being embraced across the whole site. The plan is for halogens to be eradicated completely in the coming years.

CMY color mixing was also vital for the style and variety of performance genres presented at the Philharmonie, and the colors in general were another area where the DL4X scored compared to the other brands considered. Finally, it was vital that the fixtures were small, lightweight, and portable.

In all these areas, the company says Robe was their best choice.

The DL4X's were delivered as a fully flight-cased package by Robe's Benelux distributor Controllux, and will be moved between the Philharmonie's two venues and the City Hall.

"This is a great all-round product for theatres and concert halls like us," enthuses Hartendorf, who also shared he was impressed with the power and authenticity of the whites as well as with the refined color mixing.

Before this purchase, they have hired Robe LED Wash 600s, Pointes, and other luminaires for specific events, so they were all aware of the brand and features like the build quality and reliability.

"We see a lot of different products on all the various touring shows that play our venues," he comments. "And we are seeing Robe more and more frequently and consistently than ever before," which in the context of the Benelux market, has been partly due to the hard work and tenacity of Controllux.

The new DL4Xs will be controlled in house via their Philharmonie's Road Hog consoles.

Their first project is a business awards event in the Great Hall and this will be followed by a string of other events throughout the summer.