Opera-goers who disdain supertitles as an unnecessary intrusion should be pleased with Denver’s new opera house.
Likewise, the Ellie Caulkins Opera House should delight people whose enjoyment of opera is increased by a titling system.
And it is all thanks to FigaroÑnot the master manipulator from “The Barber of Seville” but a small Santa Fe company, Figaro Systems Inc.Ñwhich uses the latest technology to provide personal titling.
A subtitling unit has been set in headrests in front of every seat in the house, except in boxes, where they are on the front wall.
“The nice thing about this is if you don’t touch the button at the beginning of the performance it goes off and never brothers you for the rest of the act,” Figaro’s Bryan Hollar said. “If you press the button, it will come on and allow you to watch in your language.”
If you do choose to use it, your screen will not distract those seated around you.
“It is an emissive technology, which means that only the letters put out light and the background is purely black,” Hollar said. “It’s not like your computer screen. If you sit in front of your laptop in a darkened room, you’re glowing. You’re all lit up. This doesn’t do that.”
Each screen also has a louvered privacy filter that that prevents even the lighted letters from distracting others.
The 1-by-4 inch screens can display either two or three lines of type and do not distract their user from what’s happening on stage, Hollar said.
“The idea behind that is that it is less distractive visually,” he said. “It appears, and you see it if it’s in your mind’s eye, much like to see a red light on your dash tells you that you’re low on fuel.É You read. You’re back to watching the performance when it goes away.”
The decision to use the system is left up to those producing the performance. If they want to provide text, they must enter it into the computer system, said Ann Williams, director of communications for the Division of Theatres and Arenas.
Producers also decide how many languages to offer. The system can provide subtitles in eight languages at a time.
“We really plan on having all kinds of users of this facility use the Figaro text-delivery system,” Williams said. “Of course Opera Colorado is going to be a primary user, and that’s natural. But there all kinds of other ways to use the system: for example, with ballet if the Colorado Ballet chooses to use it, even though it wouldn’t be translating what someone is saying into another language. It could give you a rundown of what’s happened.”
The Ellie is one of nine opera houses in the world and the third in the U.S. to have individual titling. The Santa Fe Opera uses Figaro titling, while the Metropolitan Opera in New York City employs Figaro’s Simultext software as part of Met Titles.
Other operas using Figaro include Teatro Alla Scala in Milan, Italy; Royal Opera House in London; Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain; and Wiener Staatsoper in Vienna.
