These provide diffusion and serve to create a local reverberant field where the performers can stand. Consequently the walls surrounding the forestage are often nearly parallel and decorated with large ornate elements such as columns and balconies. Singers need an area where they receive adequate reflected energy returning from the room.

In opera houses most of the action takes place down stage near the center. Financial demands push these facilities toward larger capacities, particularly in the United States, where there is little public money available for the arts. 1.15) and the Metropolitan in New York (3816 seats, Fig. 19.29) Teatro alla Scala in Milan (2289 seats, Fig. Nevertheless a number of the most successful opera houses are relatively large, including Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires (2487 seats, Fig. The average seating capacity is about the same as in concert halls but smaller room sizes are preferred since the vocal effort required of the singers is much less.

Traditional European opera houses are horseshoe-shaped, with many tiers of box seating, stacked like a layer cake. The furthest seat is no more than 30 m (98 ft) from the stage and 30 ° from the nearest side of the proscenium opening. Sight lines are important for theater, so opera houses tend to be shallower than concert halls. In small auditoria some stage floor overhang is necessary to control the loudness. Open pits, where the orchestra is visible to the audience with minimal stage overhang, give the best results in large rooms. The conductor, who must be visible to both the orchestra and the vocalists, stands with his head just at stage level. The orchestra is seated in a pit below the stage to balance the level between the singer and the musicians. The fly tower above the stage, built to accommodate the lifting of sets, is about one and a half times the height of the proscenium opening above the top of the arch. The stage house must be deep, with considerable wing space for set movement and storage.

In opera, the stage performance rather than the orchestra is the main attraction. Marshall Long, in Architectural Acoustics (Second Edition), 2014 Opera HousesĪn opera house is a combination of a legitimate theater and a concert hall, which constrains the design more than a purely orchestral hall.

Max capacity of stoughton opera house