Lawo’s IP audio infrastructure, including mc²96 and mc²56 consoles, met the live sound and broadcast requirements of the French public broadcasters and the Eurovision network, delivering audio quality to both the large crowd on site and millions of listeners and viewers worldwide, on 14 July, France’s National Day.
For the 12th edition of the ‘Concert de Paris’, events took place on the forecourt of the Hôtel de Ville, featuring the arrival of the Olympic flame in the city and the lighting of a cauldron for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
For the audio coverage of the Concert de Paris, Lawo’s audio infrastructure was handled by a crew of Radio France professionals. At the front-of-house (FOH) position, sound technician Nadège Antonini managed the orchestra mix and FOH output using a 48-fader mc²96 console, while Stéphane Thouvenin took charge of the soloists and choirs mix on a 32-fader mc²56. Stage monitoring was managed using a 32-fader mc²56 with a 16-fader extender in a two-operator configuration with two separate control surfaces.
The setup included a redundant pair of A__UHD Core audio engines shared among the three consoles, with a redundant RAVENNA network integrating FOH and stage. A central HOME management cluster connected, managed, and secured all aspects of this live production environment.
Radio France also utilised an OB truck equipped with a mc²66 MkII console to produce the audio clean feed for broadcast on French radio and TV, as well as the Eurovision feed.
The evening was broadcast live on France 2 and france.tv, and simulcast by EBU-Eurovision in over ten countries, making it one of the world’s biggest classical music events.
A large crowd gathered on the city hall square to attend the performances by the Orchestre National de France, the Chœur and Maîtrise de Radio France, conducted by Cristian Măcelaru, and the internationally renowned opera singers and soloists including Lang Lang (piano), Nadine Sierra (soprano), Pene Pati (tenor), Gaëlle Arquez (mezzo-soprano), Khatia Buniatishvili (piano), Fatma Said (soprano), Gautier Capuçon (cello), and Renaud Capuçon (violin), with a special participation of the duo Thibault Cauvin & -M- (guitars).
The concert concluded with the arrival of the Olympic Flame at the Parvis de l’Hôtel de Ville and the lighting of a cauldron, just before the traditional fireworks display from the Eiffel Tower and Trocadero gardens.
Like in the previous years, the event reached around 3m viewers on France 2 and many more listeners on France Inter radio. It was broadcast live in many countries worldwide via the Euroradio and Eurovision networks.
