Leading Italian lighting designer Massimo Tomasino has extended his relationship with SGM’s Synthesis 700 and Giotto 400 moving head spots, featuring them extensively in the design for Patty Pravo’s current Nella Terra dei Pinguini tour.
Having worked with the pop legend – whose own career spans four decades – since 2005, he has a clear fix on the type of set design that suits her best. “With her elegant pop/rock style I like to work with a lot of rear lighting,” he said.
This time around, Tomasino designed both the lighting and the scenography, with a scalable set which would be as dynamic in the smaller theatres as in the large arenas and amphitheatres. “I needed moving lights that would deliver a strong brightness and at the same time run very silent, especially when touring theatres,” said Tomasino. “The set list contains many slow songs, with soft dynamics – often with only a classical guitar and her voice. The Synthesis spots are ideal for this.”
Working with the artiste’s production company, Musikeria, he sourced 12 each of the moving heads from Fast Service.
The LD has used SGM products regularly in his shows since 2008. “Patty Pravo is especially happy with the Synthesis because of its low noise,” he confirmed. “She is really concerned about this issue, as well as the rest of the lighting set-up.”
The Patty Pravo lighting rig is based around three 12-metre long (40 x 40) trusses. The first six Synthesis heads are divided two on the downstage truss and four on the mid stage for backlit effects on the artist and front lighting on the band. The final six heads are used only for backlight effects on the upstage truss.
A further nine-metre long (30 x 30) truss is set far upstage and flown five metres from the stage floor on rotating panels designed by the LD. When these panels are rotated (half open), they reveal five vertical trusses, with a Giotto Spot 400 on top. Two additional trusses are placed vertically up front, with a further Spot 400 on top of each while the final five Giottos are distributed behind and in front of the band risers — to project narrow beams upwards from the floor. “This is something the artist really likes,” said Tomasino.
Patty Pravo’s 25 shows have been seen by around 220,000 fans and, according to the LD, everyone (including the artiste herself) has been delighted with the results. “Local promoters have described it as the type of show that a record-breaking legend such as Patty Pravo deserves,” concluded Tomasino.
